MELBOURNE, Australia, June 13 -- In what is being billed as the world's largest international study of online consumer behavior, involving over 36,000 users (though that sounds low - we could easily get more than 36,000 respondents to a survey today), differences between online behavior cultures were found, including the secret to success - which appears to be simplicity. 

The Webreep online consumer survey analyzed consumer behavior on the internet between May 2011 and May 2012. Participants were distributed across 7 regions, including France, Germany, Spain, Australia, China, and Russia.

The study found Americans are the most trusting, 20% more than Europeans, Chinese (23%), and Russians (33%).

Dr. Brent Coker, an online consumer psychologist(!) who co-authored the report says, "Americans feel more safe on the internet than the rest of the world. In the past we've known that the Chinese are concerned about eavesdropping, and the Russians with hackers. Now we're also seeing these types of concerns spread to Germany, France, Spain and Australia. However, these concerns just haven't hit the US yet." 

The study found the Spanish had an extremely high correlation between attractiveness and satisfaction.

"Spanish attitudes towards the attractiveness of websites are very low. But there is a very high correlation between attractiveness and satisfaction. This suggests the low satisfaction is driven by pride. The Spanish have an extremely well developed sense of style -the highest recorded," said Coker.

The study found that Germans perceived the quality of information online to be very low: 51% lower than the French, 13% lower than the Spanish and the USA.

"People who place high value on factual and accurate information are often very accurate and precise in their behavior. The data for Germany suggests they are very goal directed when using the internet, and exceptionally critical of the information available," said Coker. 

The survey also found that the French have an unusually high correlation between website attractiveness and satisfaction.

"Satisfaction from attractiveness is very similar to romanticism. When we derive satisfaction from beauty, it makes us sentimental and evokes similar thought patterns as Love. The data suggests this is how the French respond to beautiful websites- the French are very romantic online," said Coker. 

The report also found websites with the most word-of-mouth and loyalty were the simplest. The report can be downloaded at http://www.webreep.com/en-US/Home/WebreepReports