Here
is more evidence that young adults have difficulty distinguishing between valid
web sites and bogus ones: A survey commissioned by the citizens watchdog group
Digital Citizens Alliance showed that 18- to 24-year-olds are much more likely
to get stiffed when buying merchandise online, usually because they’re less
able to spot a shady web seller.
The
survey was conducted Nov. 14 by Zogby Analytics and specifically asked
respondents about online shopping for gifts. The results, though, showed that a
whopping 35% of the youngest adult group had not received at least one online
gift order (compared to just 18% for all age groups). Of those, almost 60% also
didn’t get a refund for the no-show order.
Why
young adults are more apt to be victimized becomes clearer when you look at
their shopping habits. More than 80% of all shoppers make sure they’re ordering
from secure web sites, but only 60% of young adults bother to do so. More young
adults are drawn to shop at sites offering super-cheap prices—which too often
are sites run by scammers. While older shoppers balk at great deals that seem
too good to be true or when the seller is unknown, younger adults haven’t yet
developed that sort of radar.
This
survey correlates to other studies on how college students conduct online
research for schoolwork and papers. Students, especially those in their first
year, are less able to discern whether online information sources are
knowledgeable and trustworthy.
Younger
adults may spend a lot of time online, both studying and shopping, but they
apparently need instruction in separating the bad sites from the good.
