In collaboration with the renowned online market research institute Marketagent.com, we surveyed the Austrian population on the topics of online behavior and domains. The results revealed interesting findings: The most well-known top-level domain in Austria remains .at, while newer generic extensions struggle to gain traction. Furthermore, companies without their own domain are quickly perceived as untrustworthy.

The outcome is clear: 96.9 percent of the surveyed individuals are familiar with the .at extension, and 81.2 percent would choose a .at domain in the event of domain registration. This extension emphasizes a connection with Austria and is considered reliable, established, and appealing. On the other hand, newer top-level domains like .app or .theater have not gained much recognition, with 44.4 percent being unaware of these general domain extensions (gTLDs).

^{Questions: To what extent are you familiar with the domain extension .at? | Suppose you would like to register your own domain today: When registering a domain, would you choose a .at domain or a domain with another extension? | Basis: n=1,002}

Responses regarding websites and domains underscore the high relevance of an online presence. 91.3 percent believe that companies and organizations should possess their own domain. Nearly half consider it unprofessional for companies and organizations not to have their own website. Additionally, 77.6 percent consider the .at extension the best choice for companies, individuals, and organizations in Austria.

When it comes to internet searches, users expect to see an .at domain at the top. When presented with various search results, 54.6 percent click on the domain with the corresponding company name and the .at extension.

^{Question: To what extent do you perceive companies/ organizations as reputable/ professional that do not have their own website/ homepage but only a social media profile (e.g. on Facebook)? | Basis: n=1,002}

Internet users spend a significant amount of time on their mobile phones. 94.3 percent are online daily for personal use, with 30.8 percent doing so hourly. 88.6 percent typically use smartphones for this purpose. Among their preferences are apps and websites like WhatsApp (24 percent), Instagram (22.5 percent), and Facebook (22.2 percent). Moreover, security is becoming a more prominent concern. Scams like phishing impact user behavior. 64.9 percent pay attention to information in the browser's address bar while surfing, especially on portals containing sensitive data such as online banking.

^{Question: To what extent do you perceive companies/ organizations as reputable/ professional that do not have their own website/ homepage but only a social media profile (e.g., on Facebook)? | Basis: n=1,002}

You can download the detailed report in the current nic//marketresearch pdf here (German version only):

Download Consumer Survey 2023

Survey details: sample size (n= 1002 interviews) - core target group: people aged between 14 and 69 who use the Internet - sample representative of the Austrian population - period: 19 - 27.04.2023 - conducted by Marketagent.com online research GmbH