Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from MarketingCharts, a Watershed Publishing publication providing up-to-the-minute data and research to marketers.
While many retailers zoom into more of a digitally driven future, a recent Harris Poll shows Americans are somewhat wary of how technology is changing aspects of their lives.
The poll showed that strong majorities of Americans believe technology is creating a lazy society (73 percent), has become too distracting (73 percent), is corrupting interpersonal communications (69 percent) and is having a negative impact on literacy (59 percent).
On the other hand, strong majorities believe technology has improved the overall quality of their lives (71 percent) and has encouraged people to be more creative (68 percent).
Also on the encouraging side, a majority of Americans say technology has had a positive effect on their ability to learn new skills (63 percent). Over four in 10 also say technology has a positive effect on their:
- Relationships with friends (46 percent);
- Ability to live life the way they want (45 percent);
- Happiness (43 percent); and
- Social life (42 percent).
Photo: RetailWire
Not unsurprisingly, Millennials saw a bigger benefit to having technology enmeshed in their lives, including:
- The ability to learn new skills (72 percent vs. 59 percent Gen Xers, 60 percent Baby Boomers & 56 percent Matures);
- Relationships with friends (59 percent vs. 46 percent, 36 percent vs. 34 percent);
- The ability to live the way they want to (53 percent vs. 43 percent, 39 percent vs. 40 percent);
- Social life (57 percent & 42 percent, 30 percent vs. 29 percent); and
Improving their productivity was one exception. Millennials are more likely to say technology has had a negative effect on their productivity, both at home (32 percent vs. 21 percent Gen Xers, 20 percent Boomers & 14 percent Matures) and at work (14 percent vs. eight percent, three percent & two percent).
The online survey of 2,220 adults took place from June 17 to 22.