Alix F.

In past discussions and research, we have found variations in Firefox and Mozilla brand awareness around the world. This is important to know to make sure we communicate effectively in each country. So we decided to add the question as part of the Firefox in your country survey.

Here are the round 1 results:

What do you think accounts for the variations in brand recognition? Are they linked to Mozilla’s history in the country (did people follow Mozilla from its early days for example)? Firefox market share? Press coverage? All of the above?

As a side note, we realized there might have been some confusion due to the wording of the question: “Which brand are people you know most likely to recognize and associate with a web browser?” Did people select Firefox rather than “both” in countries where people do know the Mozilla brand well because Firefox is the only one they associate with a browser?

We have updated the question in round 2 to fix this, and will report on whether or not the change made any difference.

One of the goals of the Firefox in your country survey is to gain a better understanding of the perceived barriers to using Firefox. Below are the round 1 responses for two questions that address this:

Is there are place where you cannot or are not permitted to use Firefox?

In an Internet Cafe or a LAN house (14.2%)

• More likely for people running Windows 2000, XP, or Vista (15.3%)

At work (12.9%)

• More likely for people who don’t use Firefox as their primary browser (17.2%)
• More likely for people running Windows 2000, XP, or Vista (14.3%)

Other (12.6%)

• School was most often mentioned as another place where one cannot use Firefox. We have updated the question for round 2 to include schools.

At home (1.5%)

• Much more likely for people running an older Windows OS (pre-Windows 2000) (8.3%)
• More likely for people not using Firefox as their primary browser (5.2%) or not using it at all (3.3%)

Country-specific data

Australia

• Much less likely to select Internet cafes (6.8% vs. 14.2%)

Germany

• Much more likely to select work (17.5% vs. 12.9%)

Spain

• Much less likely to select Internet cafes (9% vs. 14.2%) or home (0.2% vs 1.5%)

India

• Much more likely to select Internet cafes (19% vs. 14.2%)

Indonesia

• Much more likely to select other (22.7% vs. 12.6%)

Poland

• Much less likely to select Internet cafes (6.8% vs. 14.2%)

Brazil

• Less likely to choose home (0.6% vs. 1.5%)

What do you think is THE biggest inhibitor to getting people to use Firefox as their primary browser?

Not knowing about Firefox (27.3%)

• Much less likely choice for people who don’t use Firefox as their primary (21.2%) or are unsure (21.8%)

This probably says more about the sample (not random) than the overall population: people who don’t use Firefox but answered the survey know about it.

Frequently used website does not work with Firefox (25.2%)

• More likely for people who use Firefox at work (28.1%) or everywhere (27.2%)
• More likely choice for people who have used IE in the past month (28.6%)

Being aware of Firefox, but not knowing why it is unique or better (22.2%)

• Less likely for people who are not using Firefox as their primary (18.7%)
• More likely for people who used Safari (25.5%) or Opera (25%) in the past month
• More likely for people who run Mac OS 10.4 and above (27.8%)

Other (8.1%)

Not knowing or not being allowed to install and download software (5.7%)

• More likely for people who have been using Firefox for 2+ years (6.7%)
• They are also more likely to choose “installed on their computer by a trusted source” as the biggest factor to try Firefox.

The hypothesis here would be that they are the ones recommending and installing Firefox for others, so they are more likely to recognize this option as the hurdle.

Not knowing anyone who uses Firefox (3.6%)

• More likely for people who have been using Firefox for less than a month (8.9%)

I don’t know/no opinion (2.5%)

Not much press coverage of web browsers (2.3%)

Having tried Firefox but having switched back or uninstalled (2.2%)

• More likely for people who don’t use Firefox as their primary (7.4%)

Downloading software is too expensive or time consuming (1%)

• More likely for people who don’t use Firefox (2.7%)

Country-specific data

Australia

• Much more likely to choose “not knowing why it is unique or better” (31.6% vs. 22.2%)
• Less likely to select site incompatibility as the main issue (5.3% vs. 25.2%)
• Much more likely to choose “not knowing or being allowed to download/install” (13.5% vs. 5.7%)
• More likely to select downloading as too expensive or time consuming (3% vs. 1%)

Germany

• Much more likely to choose “not knowing why it is unique or better” (36.9% vs. 22.2%)
• Much less likely to select site incompatibility as an issue (4.2% vs. 25.2%)
• More likely to choose “not knowing or being allowed to download/install” (9.9% vs. 5.7%)

Spain

• Less likely to select “not knowing about Firefox” (25.6% vs. 27.3%)
• Less likely to choose “not knowing why it is unique or better” (10.2% vs. 22.2%)
• Much more likely to select site incompatibility as an issue (30.7% vs. 25.2%)

India

• Much more likely to choose “not knowing why it is unique or better” (34.8% vs. 22.2%)
• Less likely to select site incompatibility as the main issue (13.5% vs. 25.2%)
• More likely to select downloading as too expensive or time consuming (2.6% vs. 1%)

Indonesia

• Much more likely to select “not knowing about Firefox” (33.3% vs. 27.3%)
• More likely to choose “not knowing why it is unique or better” (26.8% vs. 22.2%)
• Much less likely to select site incompatibility as an issue (19.7% vs. 25.2%)
• More likely to select downloading as too expensive or time consuming (2.4% vs. 1%)

Poland

• More likely to choose “not knowing why it is unique or better” (26.5% vs. 22.2%)
• Much less likely to select site incompatibility as an issue (8.5% vs. 25.2%)
• Much more likely to choose “not knowing or being allowed to download/install” (15.3% vs. 5.7%)

Brazil

• Much more likely to select “not knowing about Firefox” (40.9% vs. 27.3%)
• Less likely to choose “not knowing why it is unique or better” (9.1% vs. 22.2%)
• More likely to choose lack of press coverage (5% vs. 2.3%)

According to the Firefox in your country survey (1st round), the biggest factor in getting people to try Firefox is a recommendation from a friend or an expert.

Here’s the exact question we asked you: What do you think is THE biggest factor in getting people to try Firefox?

And an overview of the results:

Remember that we asked about the biggest factor. It is safe to assume that most of the options had some influence over the decision to install Firefox, but I see the biggest factor as the reason to finally make the switch.

Note: The data below highlights some of the statistically significant differences between groups. Remember that in each case we’re comparing a group with its peers. For example, people who have been using Firefox for more than 2 years are compared to people who have been using Firefox for other amounts of time or aren’t using it. In all cases, having a group more or less likely to have picked an option does not mean it’s their top choice, just that people in the group were more likely than in other groups to choose the option. Also, the overall numbers include all responses, including those coming from countries not targeted in the pilot.

Now let’s take a closer look at the results:

Recommendation from a friend of expert (37.7%)

This confirms the Q3 customer survey results that show that 55% of people who updated found out about Firefox 3 through a recommendation. The numbers vary between the two surveys because of the samples (a random sample of people who just updated in the case of the Q3 survey, a survey spread by the community in the case of Firefox in your country), and the actual question (How did you find out about Firefox? vs. What do you think is the biggest factor in getting others to try Firefox?). However, both surveys show that word of mouth has been the key factor in increasing adoption of Firefox so far.

More stats:

• A recommendation is a more likely choice for people who have been using Firefox for more than 2 years (39.9%)
• People using the Internet for 8+ hours per day were more likely to indicate this as a top factor (40%), while people using the Internet for 1–2 hours/day were less likely to do so (33.2%).
• People who have not installed an add-on were less likely to indicate this as a top factor (31.6%)
• People contributing to the marketing efforts of spreading Firefox were more likely to indicate this as the top factor (39.7%)

Regarding add-ons, I would guess that people recommending Firefox to others typically also recommend specific add-ons. New initiatives like Fashion your Firefox should help introduce add-ons directly to new users.

On the marketing contributors, they probably have seen the effectiveness of word-of-mouth first-hand, as confirmed by the Q3 survey, so continue spreading the word!

Learning what’s unique about Firefox (22.3%)

• People who have been using Firefox for 6–12 months were much more likely to choose this option (31.9%)

Is it that they have had a chance to discover and experience all the cool features in Firefox and wish they had known about them from the start?

Knowing there’s a choice (16.2%)

• People who have been using Firefox for 6 months or less were much more likely to choose this option (around 25%).
• People who spend less than 1hr/day on the Internet were also more likely to select this option (24%)

It probably means that there is still work to be done in making sure people know they have a choice, and in explaining what the open web is and why it matters.

Installed by a trusted source (12%)

• People who have been using Firefox for 2+ years were a little more likely to choose this option (13.2%)

This choice is somewhat similar to the option that says “a recommendation from a friend”. Here we wanted to capture how many people thought that having to download and install Firefox themselves would be a major hurdle.

Other (5.1%)

• People who don’t use Firefox were more likely to choose this one (12.3%)

Press and blogs (3.9%)

• People who are currently not using Firefox (9.6%) or not using it as their primary browser (5.9%) were much more likely to choose this option.
• People who use Firefox at home and in cybercafes (14.3%) were more likely to choose this option

Don’t know/No opinion (2.8%)

• People who have been using Firefox for less than a month (6.7%) or don’t use it (15.1%) were much more likely to choose this option.

Country-specific data:

Australia:

• Less likely to say that learning what’s unique/different about Firefox is a factor (13.5% vs. 22.3% overall)

Germany:

Firefox’s market share in Germany is fairly high, and press coverage of browsers is quite extensive, so it would explain why knowing about the existence of other browsers might not be such a big issue there.

• Much less likely to select “knowing there is a choice of web browser” (8% vs. 16.2%)
• Much more likely to choose “recommendation by a friend or expert” (49% vs. 37.7%)

Spain:

• More likely to select “installed on their computer by a trusted source” (16.6% vs. 12%)
• Less likely to choose recommendations (35.6% vs. 37.7%)

India:

• Much more likely to choose “learning what’s unique and different about Firefox” (32.9% vs. 22.3%)

Indonesia:

• Much more likely to say “learning what’s unique about Firefox” (39.6% vs. 22.3%)
• Much less likely to choose recommendations (24.1% vs. 37.7%)

Poland:

This is similar to Germany: Firefox market share in Poland and press coverage are fairly high.

• Much less likely to select “knowing there’s a choice” (7.5% vs. 16.2%) and “learning what’s unique or different about Firefox” (15.3% vs. 22.3%)
• Much more likely to choose recommendations (53.1% vs. 37.7%)

Brazil:

• Much less likely to say “learning what’s unique and different about Fx” (13.8% vs. 22.3%) and “installed by a trusted source” (7.5% vs. 12%)
• More likely to choose recommendations (42.7% vs. 37.7%) and “press and blogs” (7.7% vs. 3.9%)

Round 2

Round 2 of Firefox in your country is underway, check it out.

Today we’re launching round 2 of the Firefox in your country survey
with a new list of countries and new and improved questions. The survey will remain open until December 26th.

Thanks to Staś Małolepszy and Mozilla’s awesome team of localizers, the survey is available in 15 languages: English, French, Greek, Italian, Spanish (Spain, Argentina, Mexico), Catalan, Czech, Hebrew, Romanian, Sinhala, Vietnamese, Dutch, and Frisian!

So in this round we would especially like to hear from people in the following countries. Please help us spread the word to others, whether or not they use Firefox:

Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Czech Republic
France
Greece
Israel
Italy
Mexico
Peru
Romania
Sri Lanka
Spain
The Netherlands
Vietnam

If you’re from any country this survey is localized for beyond the ones listed above, we also definitely welcome your responses in this round.

The link to the survey is the same for everyone and the page should automatically display the survey in your language. If you don’t see it in your language, use the pull-down menu at the top right to change it.

We’re already planning round 3 for early 2009, so if you’re interested in helping launch the survey in your country, please comment here.

Thanks for participating!

According to the Firefox in your country survey tabbed browsing is still viewed as the most compelling Firefox feature!

Here’s the exact question: What do you think would be the most compelling product feature for people who you know?

And an overview of the results:

Now let’s look at the details: who picked what feature?

Note: The data below highlights some of the statistically significant differences between groups. Remember that in each care we’re comparing a group with its peers. For example, people who have been using Firefox for more than 2 years are compared to people who have been using Firefox for other amounts of time or aren’t using it. In all cases, having a group more or less likely to have picked an option does not mean it’s their top choice, just that people in the group were more likely than in other groups to choose the option. Also, the overall numbers include all responses, including those coming from countries not targeted in the pilot.

Tabbed browsing (28.9%)

Overall, tabbed browsing is the most frequently selected feature, ahead of the add-ons manager and the phishing and malware protections. It is more likely to be chosen by people who have been using Firefox for a long time, which might indicate that these users know how to make the most of tabs on Firefox (since there are many clever tricks with tabs, even more if you have add-ons). It could also indicate that these users still remember the time when only Firefox had tabs (you can see that people who use another browser as their primary are less likely to have selected tabs).

More stats:

• more likely choice for people who have been using Firefox for 2+ years (30.4%)
• much less likely choice for people who have been using Firefox for less than 12 months, less likely to be chosen the less people have used Firefox (17.8% to 24.1%)
• less likely choice for people who use Firefox, but not as their primary browser (24.2%)
• less likely for people spending 8+ hours / day on the web (26.6%)
• more likely for people who use Firefox primarily at work (31.9%)

Smart location bar (9.8%)

The smart location bar (“awesome bar”) is less likely to be chosen by Firefox 2 users (5.8%), which makes sense since the feature was not available until Firefox 3. What the surprising was that there was no difference between the people who have been using Firefox for a long time and new users, or depending on how much time people spend on the Internet. The awesomeness of the awesomebar increases as you use the browser more, so I would have expected a different result here.

Session restore (8.7%)

The hypothesis here is that session restore is more popular with more recent and “light” Firefox users: people who have used Firefox for 2–6 months were the most likely to choose this feature (I would guess that the less than 1 month group has not discovered the feature yet), people who have not installed add-ons, or aren’t sure what version of Firefox they use also were more likely to choose this one. Maybe people who have been using Firefox for 2 years or more are so used to the feature they don’t notice it anymore?

More stats:

• more likely to be reported by people using Firefox for 2–6 months (13%) and 1–2 year (10.4%)
• more likely for people who have not installed add-ons (13%)
• much more likely for people who aren’t sure what version of Firefox they use (13.7%)
• less likely by people using Firefox for 2+ years (8%)

Don’t know/No opinion (7.5%)

This one shouldn’t be very interesting, except that it’s more likely for people using Firefox for less than 1 month (15.6%) and people who don’t use it (21.9%) to have selected this option. It’s also more likely for people who have not installed add-ons (14.6%).
This indicates that features are discovered and adopted over time. So how can we help Firefox users learn about all its cool features sooner?

Other (5.4%)

We’re still processing the results for the open-ended questions, more on what “other” are later…

One-click bookmarks (3.1%)

Much like session restore, this feature is more likely to be chosen by newer Firefox users, people who spend less time on the web, and don’t have add-ons. A very puzzling stat is that they are more likely to report using Firefox 1, which does not have 1-click bookmarks… maybe there was confusion and people thought of bookmarks in general, or maybe they’re not really using Firefox 1.

More stats:

• more likely reported by people using Firefox for less than 12 months (10% for less than 1 month, 9.3% for 2–6 months)
• less likely for 2+ years (2.4%)
• more likely for people who use Firefox but not as their primary browser (5%)
• more likely for people who did not install add-ons (7%)
• more likely for people spending 1–2 hours/day on the web (4.4%)
• more likely for people who use Firefox primarily at home (4%) and in cybercafes (12.2%)
• more likely to be using Firefox 1 (20%) or to be unsure (7.2%)

Password Manager (1.7%)

Just like session restore and one-click bookmarks, password manager is chosen as the most compelling feature most often by newer Firefox users. One troubling stat below is the fact that people who use Firefox in cybercafes are more likely to choose password manager.

More stats:

• more likely to be chosen by people using Firefox for less than 6 months (5.6% for less than 1 month, 3.9% for 2–6 months), less likely by 2+ yr (1.2%)
• more likely for people who use Firefox but not as their primary browser (3.4%)
• more likely to be used by people who primarily use Firefox in cybercafes (6.1% vs. 1.7%)

Country-specific data

Australia:

The number match the overall numbers, except for one small exception: people in Australia were more likely to pick “other” (9.8%) as their top feature.

Germany:

• much less likely to choose tabbed browsing (19% vs. 28.9%)
• much less likely to select session restore (4.6% vs 8.7%)
• much more likely to pick “no opinion” (20.9% vs. 7.5%)

Spain:

• more likely to choose tabbed browsing (32.4% vs. 28.9%)
• less likely to pick add-ons manager (14.2% vs. 17.7%)
• more likely to pick phishing/malware protection (19.4% vs. 17.3%)
• less likely to pick 1-click bookmarks (1.9% vs. 3.1%)

India:

• more likely to choose 1-click bookmarks (4.7% vs. 3.1%)
• less likely to pick smart location bar (6.2% vs. 9.8%)
• more likely to select session restore (12.2% vs. 8.7%)

Indonesia:

• less likely to pick smart location bar (3.2% vs. 9.8%)
• much more likely to choose the add-ons manager (30.4% vs. 17.7%)

Poland:

• much less likely to select the add-ons manager (7% vs. 17.7%)
• more likely to pick the password manager (3.1% vs. 1.7%) and phishing/malware protection (25.4% vs. 17.3%) or no opinion (11% vs. 7.5%)

Brazil:

• more likely to pick tabbed browsing (31.5% vs. 28.9%), smart location bar (12% vs. 9.8%) and session restore (10.7% vs. 8.7%)
• less likely no opinion (3.2% vs. 7.5%)

We launched the pilot Firefox in your country survey last September and received 9,506 responses, which is amazing given the length of the survey (20 questions). Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond and to spread the word about the survey.

Since this is the first time we ran the survey, we wanted to do a test run first and targeted 7 countries: Brazil, India, Germany, Poland, Indonesia, Spain, and Australia. However, answers came in from all over the world! Given the enthusiasm, we’re definitely planning to extend the survey to more countries.

The next round should happen in mid-December with revised questions and a new list of countries. If you’re interested in helping to localize the survey or to promote it in your country, let us know!

Stay tuned for a series of blog posts to go over the results.

Many thanks to Stas for his help in setting up the survey and analyzing the results.