Alix F.

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.