<h4>Web Summit event partner Mobilize asked attendees their thoughts on automobiles and how they affect our daily lives.</h4>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Here are some of the findings:</p>
<h3>Why are we so car crazy? Convenience</h3>
<p>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”.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://websummit.com/wp-media/2024/02/HsN4iQr4-53351970695_dd0e96ee3e_o-scaled-1.jpg" alt=A photo of an attendee at Web Summit 2023 looking at the Mobilize survey wall. The survey wall is filled with stickers indicating different answers to each section. The person is wearing a backpack and has their hands in their pockets. In the background, there are attendees sitting and chatting."" width="2560" height="1707" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-88198" /><span class="caption"><em>Attendee at Web Summit 2023 interacting with the Mobilize survey wall. <a href="https://flic.kr/p/2phwN8H" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Image</a>: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/websummit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web Summit</a>/<a href="https://websummit.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web Summit</a> (<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode.en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CC BY 2.0</a>)</em></span></p>
<p>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.</p>
<h3>People are divided on connected cars</h3>
<p>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”.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://websummit.com/wp-media/2024/02/jlNfh1Jv-53351840704_343dea0ca2_o-scaled-1.jpg" alt=A photo of three attendees standing at the Mobilize survey wall at Web Summit 2023. They appear to be responding to the fill-in-the-blank, “A car is synonymous with”. One attendee is placing a sticker on ‘Convenience’."" width="2560" height="1707" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-88199" /><span class="caption"><em>Attendee at Web Summit 2023 interacting with the Mobilize survey wall. <a href="https://flic.kr/p/2phw8uu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Image</a>: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/websummit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web Summit</a>/<a href="https://websummit.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web Summit</a> (<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode.en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CC BY 2.0</a>)</em></span></p>
<h3>People are undecided about life without a car</h3>
<p>When asked to finish the sentence, “Life without a car is”, respondents did not seem to agree.</p>
<p>​​</p>
<p>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).</p>
<p>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.</p>
<h4>If you want to learn more about Mobilize, <a href="http://www.mobilize.com" rel="noopener" target="_blank">check out the company website</a>.</h4>
<p><em>Image Credit:<a href="https://websummit.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web Summit</a></em></p>


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