Researchers at Brigham Young University divided Internet users into eight categories, based on their propensity for shopping on line. The project, sponsored by IBM, measured the attitudes of 1,700 Internet-savvy consumers and was reported in The New York Times.

Percents

Here are the researchers' definitions, in rough order of attractiveness to e-businesses (and moving clockwise around the chart, starting at 12 o’clock):

Shopping Lovers: Enjoy shopping online and do so frequently; encourage friends to buy online, too, so they are an attractive target for online retailers.

Adventurous Explorers: Think online shopping is fun, but also use the Internet extensively for other activities; need to be wooed by retailers.

Suspicious Learners: Less sophisticated about computers and reluctant to buy online; not necessarily afraid to give out credit card numbers, but need coaxing through the buying process.

Business Users: Very computer literate, but use Internet primarily for business, so are not enthusiastic champions of shopping online.

Fearful Browsers: Have adequate computer and Internet skills, and spend time "window shopping" online, but worry about credit card security, shipping charges and buying products sight unseen.

Fun Seekers: The least wealthy and least educated market segment; see entertainment value in the Internet, but are wary of shopping online; less attractive to retailers because of limited spending power.

Technology Muddlers: Spend less time online than any other segment and show little interest in improving computer and Internet skills; not an attractive market for online retailers.

Shopping Avoiders: Make enough money to shop, but do not like to wait for products to be shipped and like to see merchandise before buying; a lost cause for Internet merchants.