Oh no! Where’s the Wi-Fi?

Oh no! Where’s the Wi-Fi?

39% of New Zealanders are anxious when they don’t have access to the internet

Auckland, 25th February 2016 – The most recent survey by consumer satisfaction company, Canstar Blue has revealed that 39% of Kiwis feel stressed when they can’t get online.

In the regions, Aucklanders are the most likely to get pangs of anxiety when disconnected (47%) while those in Otago are the least worried by being away from Wi-Fi (23%). When it comes to the genders, women (41%) are more anxious than men (38%) when away from the internet.

This isn’t surprising as our online and offline worlds are continuously merging, and new technology is consistently released to upgrade the way we do our jobs and how we conduct our personal lives, says Canstar New Zealand General Manager, Jose George.

“On average Kiwis are spending 3.2 hours a day connected to the internet showing just how pervasive internet usage now is, and our reliance on it. But not always with positive effects – 10% of New Zealanders say that the amount of time they are spending online is negatively impacting their relationships.

“Aucklanders are spending the most hours in front of a screen out of all of the regions at 3.7 hours per day, that adds up to around 26 hours – more than half of a working week.”

Cantabrians are the most disconnected of the regions averaging just 2.7 hours per day.

Internet making you guilty?

A quarter of New Zealanders often feel guilty about how long they spend online but aren’t motivated to do anything about the number of hours glued to their screens.

Those in the Waikato are feeling the most guilty (30%) about their internet usage whereas Wellingtonians are much less bothered by the hours they spend online (20%).

Somewhat unsurprisingly it’s the younger generations who are feeling pangs of shame about the hours they spend plugged in to their devices with 41% of 18-29 year olds saying they feel remorse but won’t change their habits, says George.

“Forty per cent of those aged under 29 say that they spend more time socialising online than they do in person, a high figure compared to the national average of 21%.”

Women (23%) are more likely than men (19%) to spend their socialising time online rather than in a room with friends.

Boredom pushes Kiwis to scroll the net

Many Kiwis cite boredom as the reason for spending so much time online, with 41% saying that they waste a lot of time surfing the internet for lack of better things to do.

18-29 year olds are the most likely to jump on their devices when the day is feeling a bit dull (71%) compared to 28% of 50-59 year olds who don’t want to waste too much time online.

Fancy yourself some Netflix?

Of the 22% of New Zealanders who currently subscribe to a paid video streaming service, the majority choose to partner with Netflix (66%). The global streaming giant is particularly popular with Aucklanders (69%) and women (69%).

The next biggest contender is Kiwi owned Lightbox with 32% of New Zealanders choosing this service, distantly followed by Sky TV’s, Neon (6%).

http://www.canstarblue.co.nz/telecommunications/broadband/

The survey asked participants to rate their Broadband providers across seven variables:
1. Value for money (i.e. is it worth the money paid?)
2. Customer service/tech support
3. Network performance (speed, coverage and reliability)
4. Flexibility of contract
5. Clarity of contract terms
6. Bill clarity
7. Overall satisfaction with the broadband provider

This year, the Canstar Blue Consumer Satisfaction Award has gone to 2Degrees who received 5-stars for overall satisfaction with their services and a near clean sweep of 5-star ratings across the board.

2Degrees are obviously a crowd favourite as they were the only brand to be awarded a 5-star rating in any category, let alone six of them, says George.

“2Degrees’ mantra has always been about keeping things simple, all while remaining affordable. Consumers appreciate that 2Degrees always go the extra mile in offering the best connection available, and upgrading customers for free if a better connection becomes available in the future.”

The number one driver for satisfaction when it comes to broadband providers is customer service (29%), closely followed by value for money and network performance (24%).
Broadband habits by region: (only exceptions)

Auckland:
Aucklanders spend 3.7 hours a day online
Aucklanders are most likely to feel stressed when they don’t have access to the internet (47%), most likely (equal with Canterbury) to regularly exceed their data cap and have to pay additional charges (10%), most likely to spend more time socialising online than they do in person (25%), most likely (equal with Waikato) to say that the amount of time they spend socialising online is negatively impacting their relationships (13%) and most likely to subscribe to a paid video streaming service (e.g. Lightbox, Netflix) (26%).

Waikato:
Those in the Waikato spend 3 hours a day online
Those in the Waikato are most likely to often feel guilty about how long they spend online but it doesn’t change the amount of time they spend online (30%), most likely to waste a lot of time surfing the internet out of boredom (47%) and most likely (equal with Auckland) to say that the amount of time that they spend online is negatively impacting their relationships (13%).

Wellington:
Wellingtonians spend 3.4 hours a day online
Wellingtonians are least likely to often feel guilty about how long they spend online but it doesn’t change the amount of time they spend online (20%).

Canterbury:
Cantabrians spend 2.7 hours a day online
Cantabrians are most likely (equal with Auckland ) to regularly exceed their data cap (10%), least likely (equal with Bay of Plenty) to spend more time socialising online than they do in person (17%) and least likely (equal with Otago and Bay of Plenty) to say that the amount of time that they spend online is negatively impacting their relationships (8%).

Otago:
Those in Otago spend 2.9 hours a day online
Those in Otago are least likely to feel stressed when they don’t have access to the internet (23%) and least likely (equal with Canterbury and Bay of Plenty) to say that the amount of time that they spend online is negatively impacting their relationships (8%).

Bay of Plenty:
Those in the Bay of Plenty spend 2.9 hours a day online
Those in the Bay of Plenty are least likely to regularly exceed their data cap (5%), least likely (equal with Canterbury) to spend more time socialising online than they do in person (17%), least likely to waste a lot of time surfing the internet out of boredom (30%), least likely (equal with Canterbury and Otago) to say that the amount of time that they spend online is negatively impacting their relationships (8%) and least likely to currently subscribe to a paid video streaming service (17%).

About the survey
Canstar Blue commissions respected professional market research agency Colmar Brunton Australia, to undertake research on our behalf using SSI NZ panel.

The outcomes reported here are the results from a survey of Kiwis who currently have a broadband account in my name and I pay the bills. In this case there were 2002 people surveyed.

*This geographical breakdown outlines exceptions only.

ENDS

© Scoop Media