Almost two-thirds (65%) of global citizens in 25 countries would choose to give up their mobile phone over one-third (35%) who would give up their computer, if forced to choose between the two, finds a new poll by global research company, Ipsos, for Reuters News.
Between television and social networking, most (58%) would give up social networking, while four in 10 (42%) would give up TV. Between mobile phones and sex, global citizens choose intimacy: almost eight in 10 (78%) would give up their phones while two in 10 (22%) would give up sex if they had to choose between it or their mobiles.
Young people pick phones over computers; women more likely than men to give up sex for their phones
In the battle between phones and computers, women in 25 countries would rather give up their computers (39%) more than men (31%) and those under the age of 35 are considerably more likely to give up their computers (41%) than their older counterparts aged 35-49 (33%) and 50-64 (27%).
Those under the age of 35 are completely undecided if they would give up their TV or social networking – 50% say they would choose one while the other 50% would choose the other. This is vastly different from older individuals who would much rather give up social networking (68% of those 50-64; 62% of those 35-49) than television. A slight gender discrepancy exists on this indicator as well; men are more likely to give up social networking (60%) than women (57%).
When it comes to sex and phones, the real global difference is a gendered one; three in 10 women (30%) would give up sex over giving up their phones, while only 13% of men would. Those aged 35 to 49 are less likely to give up sex (19%) than their older (24% of those aged 50-64) and younger (23% of those under 35) counterparts.
North Americans want computers over phones; Latin America least likely to give up sex for phones
Canadians seem to prioritise their computers over their phones the most, with eight in 10 (80%) saying they would give up their mobile phones if they had to choose. Germany (78%), Brazil (77%), France (74%) and Japan (73%) follow. On the flip side, those in Saudi Arabia are least likely to say they would give up their phones instead of their computers (49%); South Africa (52%), Indonesia (55%) and South Korea (55%) follow. In South Africa, this could be due to lack of access to Internet on their handsets.
Respondents from Great Britain are most likely to say they would give up social networking (77%) over giving up TV, followed by France (76%), Australia (75%) and the United States (74%), while those in China (35%), Turkey (39%), Brazil (39%) and India (44%) would be least likely to do so.
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region are most likely to say they would give up sex over giving up their mobile phones: almost half of those in Japan (47%) would do so, followed by Hong Kong (42%), South Korea (38%), Indonesia (33%) and India (31%). For those in Latin America, there is essentially no debate. Brazilians are least likely to say they would give up sex (8%) instead of giving up their phones, followed by Argentina (9%), Spain (10%), Italy (11%) and Canada (12%).
Local focus: South Africa
The countries reporting herein are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America. An international sample of 19 271 adults aged 18-64 in the US and Canada, and age 16-64 in all other countries, were interviewed.
Approximately 1 000+ individuals participated on a country-by-country basis, with the exception of Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa*, South Korea, Sweden, Russia and Turkey, where each have a sample 500+.
Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to the most recent country census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe.
A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points for a sample of 1 000 and an estimated margin of error of +/- 4.5 percentage points for a sample of 500, 19 times out of 20 per country of what the results would have been had the entire population of the specifically aged adults in that country been polled.
* Please note that the South African portion of this global poll can essentially be described as an elite sample.
