More than half (56%) of Singaporean consumers tend to make meaningful decisions that have a significant, long-term impact on their lives based on their emotions, experiences and intuition, as opposed to factual data and technology, according to new research from Qlik conducted by YouGov.
Covering 1,052 adult respondents, the study was undertaken on December 5 and 6, 2019. Findings show that Singaporean consumers’ trust in data and technology is limited to making decisions which aid in convenience but have a smaller impact on their lives.
This includes letting technology pick the fastest route to a destination (81%), booking a movie ticket based on preferences (67%) or generating a travel itinerary for the next vacation based on previous travel experiences (55%).
Singapore consumers trust other people more than data and technology when it comes to making bigger decisions that have a significant impact on their lives, such as choosing who they should date (77%), advising them on their next career step (65%) or motivating them to exercise (54%).
Among the Generation Z, more than half (51%) are wary of devices, websites and apps collecting data or personal information about them in return for convenience and productivity. This number is higher compared to Millennials (42%) and Generation X (48%), but lower than Baby Boomers (56%).
The research identified privacy and security concerns as the main reasons for this trust gap. Two-thirds of all respondents (67%) are concerned that their data and information might be disclosed to the public, and almost as many (61%) fear that they have no control over what data or information is collected from them.
Almost half (46%) are concerned about losing the human connection, as data and technology might cause them to interact less with people around them.
When asked for the reasons for trusting data and technology, almost three-quarters of consumers (73%) state that it helps them save time, while just under two-thirds (63%) believe it keeps them more informed.
Suganthi Shivkumar, Qlik managing director of ASEAN, India and Korea, said only when companies start to show consumers what data is collected and how it is used to make recommendations, will they trust data more when making higher-impact decisions.
