Global: Perceived benefits of 5G vary wildly between markets
After years of being in the news, it seems 5G will be finally ready for commercial use in many more countries this year, but do consumers think that 5G will benefit them? Latest data from YouGov’s newest tool, Global Profiles, reveals consumer attitudes towards 5G and how they think it will benefit their lives. Global Profiles tracks consumer thoughts, feelings, behaviors and habits, and monitors global trends and media consumption across 43 markets.
In this piece, we select 28 markets from all those surveyed in Global Profiles. Overall, slightly more than half of consumers globally (51%) agree that 5G will benefit their lives in many ways. While consumers in Mexico are as likely as global respondents to agree with the statement (51%), its North American neighbors seem to be more skeptical of the technology. Just over a third of Americans (38%) say they agree that 5G will improve their lives – a figure that drops considerably among Canadians (29%).
Most consumers in Thailand (74%), Indonesia (69%) and Malaysia (68%) believe in the benefits 5G will bring. Nearly three in five Chinese consumers (59%) and about half the consumers in Hong Kong (52%) and India (51%) think on the same lines. Singapore and Taiwan find themselves on the other end of the ladder among all the Asian countries surveyed (42% each).
Data suggests that European consumers are dubious of the benefits of 5G and they are more likely to disagree than agree with the statement. Over two in five consumers in Austria (46%), Great Britain (44%), Switzerland (43%) and Germany (41%) don’t believe that 5G will benefit their lives. While the other countries register a lower share of consumers who disagree, they register a higher share of consumers who are on the fence. This suggests that telecom brands still have some work to do in terms of informing consumers about the full range of services 5G can provide.
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Methodology: YouGov Global Profiles is a globally consistent audience dataset with 1000+ questions across 43 markets. The data is based on continuously collected data from adults aged 16+ in China and 18+ in other markets. The sample sizes for YouGov Global Profiles will fluctuate over time, however the minimum sample size is always c.1000. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from India and UAE, which use urban representative samples, and China, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, which use online representative samples. Learn more about Global Profiles.