Digital addiction a growing trend in New Zealand – survey

NZ Herald 19 February 2015
A new consumer behaviour survey backs other research that there is a growth of “digital dependency” in New Zealand, according to a leading academic.

Online interaction is overtaking real-life socialisation and lack of access to the internet is causing anxiety for some Kiwis, according to the results of a Canstar Blue consumer satisfaction survey released this week.

Of the 1127 people who participated in Canstar Blue’s survey, 41 per cent said they felt stressed without internet access and 26 per cent said they socialised more online than in person.

Thirty-six per cent also admitted to checking or updating their social accounts multiple times each day, 40 per cent said they “wasted a lot of time” surfing the internet out of boredom and 18 per cent said they downloaded music and videos they did not pay for.

When results were broken down further, Generation Y respondents – those born between about 1980 and 2004 – were more adversely affected by the internet trends.
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