While past reports have highlighted the peak of online popularity among 16 to 24-year-olds, the EIAA survey found that a wider-aged spectrum of Europeans is using the internet for sustained periods.
"The key finding from the survey was that it really shows the internet as a grown-up medium now," said Alison Fennah, executive director of the EIAA. "The 25 to 34 age group is an important audience, and it is now relying more on the internet for making lifestyle decisions."
The study involved more than 9,000 interviews across the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as 3,000 online interviews in Scandinavia and a further 3,000 interviews using an Omnibus study.
The results showed internet usage growing among all age groups, with a wider variety of activities now popular online, including keeping in touch with friends and relatives, making travel arrangements, comparing products and services, and lifestyle management.
The survey found 178 million Europeans are online each week, with 55% of internet users online every day. It also found that 41% of European internet users admitted to being influenced by online research, with 87% of shoppers comparing prices online, actually converting to buy.
Those aged between 25 and 34 now spend an average of 16 hours or more online each week, up from 13 in 2007, the EIAA said.
"This older audience is more important for advertisers to engage with, simply because they have more disposable income" said Fennah. "Brands need to engage in a variety of ways through digital channels, and the results show that an online presence is important in terms of keeping brand awareness in people's minds."
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