2024 American Perspectives Survey - San Francisco

• Most people in the San Francisco Bay Area (55%) are optimistic about their personal financial situation in the coming year, but their optimism in the growth prospects of the U.S. economy (37%) is more tempered. Unlike the national trends, the percentage of Bay Area residents who are optimistic is greater than those who are not.
• Furthermore, while 51% of people in the San Francisco Bay Area are optimistic about their disposable income in the next year, 62% plan to do more discount shopping and 13% plan to use more buy now, pay later services.
• Additionally, 29% of Bay Area residents will shop with sustainability in mind this year, even if it means higher prices. This is well above the national average (20%) and the percentages reported in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and New York.
• Similar to national trends, 29% of people in the San Fransisco Bay Area are planning to do more in-person shopping compared to 18% of people who report they will shop more at select brands using their mobile apps and 11% who will shop more at brands discovered on social media.
  

• With new GenAI services launching regularly, over one-third of people in the San Francisco Bay Area report that GenAI is having at least somewhat of an impact on their personal (38%) and professional lives (39%).
• In their personal lives, one-third of people report they’ve used GenAI to ask questions as they would in a search engine, and 26% have used GenAI as a writing assistant.
• Nearly one in four Bay Area residents report they expect to use GenAI for work at least once a week over the next 12 months. 

Banking:

• People in the San Francisco Bay Area see value in physical bank branches with nearly one-third (32%) reporting they would not shift to a digital alternative even with comparable services. At the same time, 42% of people see banking services being enhanced by GenAI.
• In particular, people in the Bay Area believe GenAI can help the most with credit card choices (51%) and budgeting (45%), but they have some skepticism about GenAI advice related to mortgages (34%) and investing (30%).
• Additionally, Bay Area residents worry about cybersecurity risks, with 59% concerned about a cybersecurity breach at their bank compromising their personal information and bank accounts.
• Comfort levels among generations vary: 61% of Gen Z and 55% of millennials in the Bay Area are comfortable with GenAI budgeting advice from their bank, compared to just 46% of Gen X and 31% of boomers.

Healthcare:

• People in the San Francisco Bay Area see the upside of GenAI in healthcare, with 55% believing it will improve the consumer experience through enhancing telehealth, helping schedule appointments and refilling prescriptions, while 48% believe it will increase efficiency by streamlining administrative tasks.
• However, they have concerns about the lack of human interaction and empathy (62%) with GenAI in healthcare, reliability and accuracy of AI-generated diagnoses (59%), and privacy and security of personal health data (55%). Notably, women are more concerned than men across the board. 

Government services:

• Only 23% of people in the San Francisco Bay Area feel government agencies are adequately leveraging technology to improve their services, compared 30% of people nationwide. 
• People say it is important for the government to use GenAI for services such as the DMV (61%), healthcare benefits (59%) and tax services (53%) to improve their experience.
• Despite expecting government agencies to use technology to a greater extent, over half (52%) of Bay Area residents express concerns about a possible cybersecurity breach being more likely at a government agency than at a private sector company. 

• Over three-fourths (77%) of people in the Bay Area are comfortable with renewables as a power source for their utility’s electricity generation.
• People in the Bay Area prioritize a more sustainable option when it comes to automobiles as well. If all price points and features were on par, Bay Area residents would purchase an EV (30%) or a hybrid vehicle (43%), while only 18% would choose a standard gas-powered vehicle. Nationwide, 21% would choose an EV, 34% a hybrid, and 38% a standard gas-powered vehicle.

• Nearly 40% of the San Francisco Bay area residents believe GLP-1s are not important to them personally.
• Of the San Francisco Bay area residents who view GLP-1s as potentially important to them personally, 28% believe taking GLP-1 drugs would improve their quality of life by helping with overall health, significant weight loss or a specific health issue. Another 24% view them as too risky, and 25% believe their benefits are difficult to predict.
• Nationwide, of those who view GLP-1s as relevant to their health, more people found them to be very important or important than too risky by 15 percentage points (35% vs. 20%).
• Over three-fourths of people in the Bay Area (76%) would not be willing to pay out of pocket for the drugs, and only 11% would be willing to pay higher insurance premiums for coverage.