Three-quarters of American adults surveyed by The Harris Poll said a simpler relationship with technology feels like an improvement to their lives, while four in five said human, imperfect brands were more memorable than polished AI-generated marketing.
The findings, highlighted in Harris’ Oct. 15 research roundup, came from research commissioned by marketing and printing company Quad on consumers’ relationships with technology and physical shopping.
The survey also found that 78% of Gen Z and millennial respondents preferred stores that encouraged people to stay and explore. Cafes, live entertainment, workshops and gathering spaces were among the experiences discussed in the research.
Younger adults want easier ways to disconnect
The underlying report put the share of Gen Z respondents who wished they could disconnect from digital devices more easily at 74%. That subgroup included 134 respondents ages 18 to 29.
Harris Chief Strategy Officer Libby Rodney described interest in film cameras, paper planners and phones without endless scrolling as a desire for human experiences and deliberate limits on technology.
Her argument was that these choices reflected what young consumers wanted from everyday life and brands. The research measured respondents’ views, rather than the results of an experiment testing a particular store or marketing campaign.
Online research measured consumer preferences
Harris surveyed 2,004 U.S. adults July 23-Aug. 12, 2026, for Quad. Participants had agreed to take surveys, and answers were weighted to match population characteristics including age, gender, region, race and ethnicity, income and education.
Harris reported a 95% Bayesian credible interval of plus or minus three percentage points for the full sample, with wider intervals for subgroups.
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