2024 American Perspectives Survey - Atlanta

• Over half (52%) of people in Atlanta are optimistic about their personal financial situation in the next year, compared with just 19% who are not.
• However, this optimism does not extend to the U.S. economy. Nearly 40% of people in Atlanta are not optimistic about the growth prospects for the U.S. economy, compared with 35% who are optimistic.
• Even with sticky inflation, more people in Atlanta are optimistic about their disposable income in the next year (42% optimistic vs 37% not optimistic). However, they are also looking for bargains at a slightly higher rate than the national average, with 70% saying they plan to do more discount shopping this year, compared with 65% nationally. Additionally, 16% of consumers in Atlanta plan to use buy now, pay later services, compared with only 14% nationally.
• Nearly one-third (32%) plan to do more shopping in person in the next year, and 21% plan to shop more on brands’ mobile apps.
  
• Overall, only 18% report they will shop with sustainability in mind, even if it means higher prices. However, 27% of Gen Z and 24% of millennials expect to do so in the coming months.
  
• Additionally, 45% are not optimistic that interest rate cuts will improve their personal financial situation. 

• Forty-two percent say GenAI has at least a somewhat significant impact on their personal day-to-day life right now, and 47% say the same about their professional lives.
• Millennials lead the pack of early adopters, with nearly one-quarter (23%) reporting that they expect to use the technology on a weekly basis for work, ahead of Gen Z (18%) and Gen X (13%).
• When it comes to using GenAI for personal reasons, Gen Z leads the way, with 42% using the technology as a writing assistant, compared to 34% of millennials and 27% of Gen X.
• Overall, the most common use of GenAI for personal reasons is asking questions as they would in a search engine, with 35% of people in Atlanta reporting using GenAI in that way.
  

Healthcare:

• Atlantans believe there are benefits to using GenAI in healthcare. More than half (54%) believe it will improve the consumer experience through enhancing tele-health, helping schedule appointments and refilling prescriptions.
• However, trust gaps remain. With GenAI in healthcare, Atlantans are primarily concerned about a lack of human interaction and empathy (63%), reliability and accuracy of AI-generated diagnoses (57%), and privacy and security of personal health data (56%).

Government services:

• Only 27% of people in Atlanta say government agencies are adequately leveraging technology to improve their services compared to 30% nationwide.
• Atlantans say it is important for the government to use GenAI for services such as the DMV (63%), healthcare benefits (57%) and Social Security (54%) to improve their experience.
• Despite expecting government agencies to use technology to a greater extent, over half (56%) of respondents in Atlanta also express concern about a possible cybersecurity breach at a government agency being more likely than at a private sector company. 

• Atlantans see value in physical bank branches, with 33% reporting they would not shift to a digital alternative even with comparable services. At the same time, 43% demand banking services be enhanced by GenAI.
• People in Atlanta believe GenAI can help the most with budgeting (44%) and credit card choices (48%), but they have some skepticism about GenAI advice related to mortgages (33%) and investment advice (34%).
• However, these trends vary by generation. In Atlanta, 66% of Gen Z and 53% of millennials are comfortable with GenAI budgeting advice from their bank, compared with just 35% of Gen X and 34% of boomers.
• While people want to fully engage in a digital environment, a majority of Atlantans (57%) are worried about a cybersecurity breach at their bank compromising their personal information.

• Atlantans are most comfortable with the use of renewables as a power source for their electricity (60%) vs. fossil fuels (48%), and 55% believe adding more renewable energy to the power mix will reduce prices in the longer term, compared with 22% for fossil fuels. 
• Assuming all costs are equal, only 35% and 32% are comfortable with nuclear and hydrogen energy, respectively.
• If all price points and features were on par, only 16% said they would purchase an electric vehicle instead of a hybrid (31%) or standard gas-powered (40%) vehicle.
• People in Atlanta are willing to pay a monthly subscription fee for additional features and services for their cars, including additional safety features (73%), in-vehicle Wi-Fi (68%) and remote start from their phone (66%).

•  Just 33% of people in Atlanta believe GLP-1s are not important to them personally.
• Of Atlantans who view GLP-1s as potentially important to them personally, 32% believe GLP-1s would improve their quality of life by helping with overall health, significant weight loss or a specific health issue. Only 20% of this group believe they are too risky, while 18% believe the benefits are hard to predict.
• Seventy-three percent would not be willing to pay out of pocket for the drugs, and only 16% would be willing to pay higher insurance premiums for coverage.