Vendor reportGWI, 2026

Only 30% say age shapes who they are, ranking it 13th of 15 identity factors

Positioning & messaging

13th

is where age ranks out of 15 factors people say define who they are

Reader Note:: People picked the factors that most define or shape who they are. Values and beliefs rank first (59%), then personality traits (50%), hobbies and interests (48%) and life experiences (48%). Only physical appearance and gender (27% each) rank below age. Source: GWI Core, GWI’s continuous online survey of 1M+ people a year aged 16-64 in 53 markets. Answers are self-reported; no sample size or fieldwork dates given.
Evidence:: Self-reported behaviour
Vendor interest:: Moderate — This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
Sample:: Continuous online survey research among individuals aged 16-64 (or 16+) in 53 markets worldwide; over 1 million respondents annually, with some additional topic-specific GWI studies and a US weekly study used where relevant.

Good for

A rough sense of size and direction, and deciding what to look at first.

Not for

Exact numbers, or saying that one thing caused another.
This is an aggregated or average number that covers very different cases. Real results in a particular segment may differ.
The source never says when this data was collected. It could be considerably older than the publication date suggests.
The source never says how this number was measured.
This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.

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20%

chose the recommended article when the comment said “I guess this will be a great article” — against 63% for “I believe” and 63% for no qualifier at all