What does a car provide? Convenience, freedom and more

Web Summit event partner Mobilize asked attendees their thoughts on automobiles and how they affect our daily lives.

Web Summit 2023 united more than 70,000 attendees from 153 countries in Lisbon. This year, a lot of the event buzz centred around artificial intelligence, how to engage audiences and how to create compelling content.

With such a large, diverse audience at its disposal, Mobilize – a subdivision of the French car manufacturer Renault – operated a survey wall asking attendees to share their thoughts and opinions on cars and the role they play in daily life.

Here are some of the findings:

Why are we so car crazy? Convenience

42 percent of survey wall respondents said that, above all, cars equal convenience. This was the most popular answer to the fill-in-the-blank question: “A car is synonymous with”.

The second most common answer indicated that, for 35 percent of surveyees, a car is synonymous with freedom, allowing users to explore the open road and do whatever they please.

Attendee at Web Summit 2023 interacting with the Mobilize survey wall. Image: Web Summit/Web Summit (CC BY 2.0)

Some 13 percent took a more climate-conscious stance, stating that cars bring to mind pollution and a detrimental effect on the environment. The remaining 10 percent of attendees admitted that ‘stress’ is the word they associate most with cars, indicating that – for some – automobiles are more trouble than they’re worth.

People are divided on connected cars

When asked about their stance on connected cars, 30 percent of respondents believed that smart cars are “always at the cutting edge of technology.” Closely following, however, was the belief that connected cars are simply “another opportunity for hackers to access my personal data”.

The third most popular response to connected cars – representing 21 percent of respondents – showed that some attendees view smart cars as “just another accessory for [their] smartphone”. Perhaps surprisingly, this was closely followed by the belief that these vehicles are associated with safety and increased protection.

Attendee at Web Summit 2023 interacting with the Mobilize survey wall. Image: Web Summit/Web Summit (CC BY 2.0)

People are undecided about life without a car

When asked to finish the sentence, “Life without a car is”, respondents did not seem to agree.

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People were divided between the responses that life without a car is desirable for personal reasons (eg health or financial), impossible (a car is a necessity), possible (I already live without a car), or that it is desirable for societal reasons (eg environmental).

In other words, life without a car isn’t a black and white issue, and there is no definitive response to our attendees’ thoughts about the prospect.

If you want to learn more about Mobilize, check out the company website.

Image Credit:Web Summit