May 22, 2024
This report showcases the thoughts and expectations of Taiwanese netizens towards the future development of their country. They are confident about Taiwan moving in the right direction and look forward to seeing more changes in the future. On the issue of government control, they tend to favor less intervention. In addition, there is expected to be a slight increase in the consumption budget for the next year, particularly among the older demographic. Over the past year, 'price' and 'election' have emerged as the most concerning topics. As for the methods of information acquisition, smartphones have become the primary tool.
When asked whether they believe Taiwan will move in the right direction in the next 12 months, the overall average score given by netizens was 67.04 feeling country is heading in the right direction.
On the question of the importance of major changes in Taiwan in the next 12 months, the overall score given by netizens was 74.31. Among them, the score given by those over 56 years old was 78.75, showing the older age group having stronger desire for change compared to the overall average.
When inquired about whether they support increasing or reducing government control in Taiwan, the overall score given by netizens was 61.64, suggesting a slight lean towards reducing government control. The 46 to 55 years old group showed a stronger inclination towards reduced government control, scoring it 65.81.
When asked if there will be an increased consumption budget in the next 12 months, the overall score given by netizens was 66.09. The score from the 46 to 60 years old group rated it 70, higher than the overall score indicating stronger likelihood to spend more.
When asked about the keyword that best describes their impression of Taiwan over the past year, the most frequent response was 'price'. This likely reflects the impact of rising inflation and increasing cost of living on the public. 'Election' related topics like ‘politics’, ‘KMT+TPP party collaboration’, ‘presidential election’ also looms.
When asked about the primary source of information in their daily lives, about 60% of netizens responded 'online devices', followed by 'offline media' (including physical locations, newspapers, publications, etc.). Among 'online devices', most people chose to use 'smartphones' (65%) to access information, followed by 'desktop computers' (14%) and 'laptops' (11%).
Taiwanese netizens were asked to rate products/services from various countries, with a higher score indicating a stronger willingness to recommend the country's products/services to friends or family. The results showed that Taiwanese netizens gave the highest recommendation score, 7.73 out of 10, to domestic products/services. Among countries outside Taiwan, Japanese products/services received significantly higher recommendation scores (7.59 out of 10), demonstrating Taiwanese netizens' high confidence in Japanese products/services. The next highly recommended countries were Germany (6.79/10), the United States (6.79/10), South Korea (6.61/10) and France (6.52/10).
Z.com Engagement Lab will continue to track the Taiwan Consumer Survey of the Taiwan public and update survey data, monitoring market trends and changes in consumer demand.