Axios|Momentive poll: What’s Next 2022

Metaverse “meh”: far more are scared rather than excited for the metaverse, but most (58%) are neither. See what else our research uncovered about American's perceptions of futuristic trends.

Brianna Richardson

April 5, 2022 | 7 min read

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Key findings:

Trending tech: A bit of dread but mostly “meh” for the metaverse: far more are scared rather than excited for the metaverse, but most (58%) are neither
Electric everything: 54% say they’re enthusiastic about having a “smart home”
Financial flux: Not all have Bitcoin FOMO: 34% say it’s too risky to invest in and/or susceptible to fraud
- Financial woes: 73% of adults lack confidence that today’s younger workers will be able to save enough to retire comfortably
Smart Cities: 51% are comfortable living in a “smart city”
Work shifts: New normal: 66% of adults say “both office and remote work will coexist”
Democracy update: Democracy remains top of mind for many: 29% say “challenges to democracy” is the biggest threat to the U.S.

Trending Tech

Metaverse “meh”: 58% say the idea of a “metaverse” makes them neither scared nor excited for the future. More than three times as many people are scared than excited (32% vs. 7%).

Younger adults (18-34) are far more likely to say the idea of a “metaverse” makes them excited (14%) vs. those 35-64 (5%) or 65+ (3%).

A similar number (60%) say they’re unfamiliar with the idea of a “metaverse, but even among those who are familiar with the metaverse, most (50%) are neither scared nor excited about it, while 35% are more scared and 14% are more excited.

Most aren’t keen on drone delivery either: the majority of adults (63%) say allowing private companies to use unmanned drones to deliver packages to their customers is a “bad idea.” Just 35% say it’s a “good idea.”

Older and middle-aged adults are warier: 67% of those 65+ and 66% of those 35-64 say it’s a “bad idea” vs. 53% of those 18-34
Republicans are slightly more likely than Democrats to say it’s a “bad idea: (65% vs. 59%)

Electric everything

‘Hey Siri’: The overwhelming majority (75%) of adults in the U.S. say they or someone in their family interacts with a voice-activated assistant. Most say they interact with a voice-activated assistant on either a smartphone (61%), smart speaker (35%), in a car (29%), on a computer (14%) or another device (7%).

Similarly, 58% say they have at least one “smart home” device in their home: 37% own one or two smart home devices, while 21% own three or more. Four in 10 (41%) say they don’t currently have any “smart home” devices in their home.

54% of those 65+ say they don’t currently have any “smart home” devices vs. 35% of those 18-34 and 39% of those 35-64

A slight majority (54%) say they’re enthusiastic about having “smart home” devices in their home (44% are not enthusiastic). On the other hand, 45% are worried about having a smart device in their home (52% are not worried).

Enthusiasm for smart home devices falls as worries increase, with 62% of people who are “not enthusiastic at all” about having a smart device in their home saying they are worried–including 40% who are “very worried.”

Enthusiasm increases dramatically with the number of devices: 41% of those with 3+ “smart home” devices are “very enthusiastic” vs. 17% of those with 1-2 devices and 7% of those without any devices
Older adults are least enthused: 44% of those 65+ are enthusiastic, compared with 55% of those age 35-64 and 61% of young adults age 18-34
Just 34% of Blacks are worried about having a smart device in their home, compared with 50% of Hispanics, 39% of Asians, 47% of whites and 51% of adults of another race
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to be worried (54% vs. 40%)

Adults are revved up about electric cars too: 64% say they’d be likely to purchase an electric vehicle if money were no object, while just a third (34%) say they’d pass.

Republicans are far less likely to say they’d buy an electric car if money were no object compared to Democrats (46% vs. 83%)
72% of those 18-34 say they’d be likely to buy an electric car if money were no object vs. 62% of those 35-64 and 58% of those 65+

Financial Flux

The majority (73%) of adults lack confidence that today’s younger workers will be able to save enough to retire comfortably.

Older adults (age 65+) are more likely to lack confidence compared to younger adults (76% vs. 64%)
43% of Blacks are confident today’s younger workers will be able to save enough to retire comfortably vs. 37% of Hispanics, 31% of Asians, 18% of whites and 26% of adults of another race

Future of finance (for some): Young adults dominate ownership: 27% of adults aged 18-34 say they own crypto vs. 15% of those 35-64 and just 5% of those 65+.

Men are almost twice as likely as women to say they own crypto (21% vs. 12%)
23% of Asians and 19% of Hispanics currently own crypto, slightly higher than whites (15%), Blacks (15%) and adults of another race (14%)
Overall, 16% of adults say they currently own cryptocurrency, yet the overwhelming majority (81%) don’t

Still, not all are ready to jump on the Bitcoin wagon:

34% say it’s too risky to invest in and/or susceptible to fraud
21% it’s a good investment opportunity, but not as useful as a currency to purchase goods and services
20% say it’s a worthless currency that will eventually crash
9% say it’s a useful form of currency that provides a much needed alternative to U.S. dollars

Current cryptocurrency owners are:

3x as likely to view Bitcoin as “a good investment opportunity, but not as useful as a currency” (51% vs. 16%)
4x as likely to view Bitcoin as “a useful form of currency that provides a much needed alternative to U.S. dollars” (28% vs. 6%)
1/5x as likely to say its a “worthless currency that will eventually crash” (4% vs. 23%)
1/4x as likely to say it’s “Too risky to invest in and/or susceptible to fraud” (9% vs. 40%)

Smart cities

Majority are on board with futuristic transportation: 74% say they support the placement of micromobility devices in public places. This is true among all adults, regardless of age, gender or race.

Republicans are less likely to support the placement of micromobility devices compared to Democrats (68% vs. 80%)

Despite broad support, 63% of adults say they haven’t used any micromobility devices. Among those that have, electric scooters (24%) and electric bicycles (13%) are most popular followed by electric skateboards (6%) and shared bicycles (9%).

80% of those 65+ say they haven’t used any micromobility devices, significantly higher compared to those 18-34 (46%) and 35-64 (66%)

Just over half (51%) say they’re comfortable living in “smart” cities in which key infrastructure components—including electricity grids, traffic lights, sidewalks, etc.—are connected to each other or a network via the internet.

Democrats are far more likely to say they’re comfortable living in a “smart” city compared to Republicans (64% vs. 39%)
59% of adults 18-34 say they’re comfortable living in a “smart city” compared with 48% of those 35-64 and 48% of those 65+

Work shifts

Adults are split on the future for college grads: 31% say college grads today have more employment options now than before the pandemic. Yet 32% say college grads have fewer options while 35% say their options are about the same as before.

38% of Asians and 35% of Blacks say college grads have more options today vs. 30% of White, 30% of Hispanics, and 29% of adults of another race

The Great Resignation: 17% of employed adults say they’ve quit a job for a different job in the last year and 26% say they’ve considered quitting or changing jobs. Few (6%) have quit a job without going back to work right away and 6% say they were laid off.

Among adults who are not employed: 5% have quit for a different job; 12% quit without going back to work right away and 8% were laid off

In-the-last-year-have-you-done-any-of-the-following

New normal: 66% of adults say “both office and remote work will coexist” while only 18% say “most workplaces will go back to how things were before COVID”. Few (13%) say “the days of working in an office 5 days a week are officially over”.

25% of those 18-34 say “most workplaces will go back to how things were before COVID” vs. 18% of those 35-64 and 11% of those 65+

Four in 10 (44%) employed adults say work-related changes during the past two pandemic years have them feeling less connected while 40% say they’re feeling about as connected. Just 15% say they’re feeling more connected.

But connection matters: 34% of those who say they’re feeling less connected have considered quitting or changing jobs in the last year vs. 19% who feel “about as connected” and 23% who feel “more connected.

Democracy update

Three in 10 (29%) say “challenges to democracy” pose the biggest threat to the U.S., ahead of “Russian aggression (21%) and “the rise of China’s international influence” (15%).

Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say “the rise of China’s international influence” poses the biggest threat to the U.S. (29% vs. 5%)

Yet Americans are less concerned over “nuclear weapons” (13%), climate change (10%) and cyberattacks posing a threat to the U.S.

Which-of-the-following-poses-the-biggest-threat-to-the-U-S

This comes as 14% of Americans rank “democracy” as the most important issue - second to “jobs and the economy” (31%) and roughly on par with a December 2021 Axios|Momentive poll (17% said “democracy”; 31% said “jobs and the economy”).

Axios|Momentive poll: What’s Next 2022

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