QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Consumer confidence in data privacy falls but trusted brands benefit, market researchers find in 2021 survey
- A new survey of 5,000 respondents from Brazil, Germany, the UK the U.S. and China has some in depth results on consumer attitudes toward online privacy. The research is a followup on a 10,000-respondent study in 2019 and the 2021 update was conducted by New York-based consumer research firm Buzzback and funded by location data platform HERE Technologies and ESOMAR, a membership organization for market, social, and opinion researchers that was founded in 1947. The name ESOMAR is an abbreviation of their original name, the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research. Buzzback’s slide deck with details of the 2021 update is HERE. An 2018 study is HERE and a report on the 2019 survey is HERE. Below is an excerpt of the companies’ October 2021 news release.
“The new study shows that the level of concern about sharing personal information digitally has risen; from 55% two years ago to 60% now. People now think harder about who to share their data with. In 2019, 54% didn’t consider who they were giving their information to, in 2021 that figure is 48%.
“With confidence in privacy reducing, the positive impact of brand trust is increasing. Willingness to buy from trusted brands is on the rise. Eighty-seven percent said they are more willing to buy from companies that handled personal data as they should. Big brands such as Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft are at the top for consumer trust, while the research shows that social media giants are still not building trust. In spite of this, people will still continue to use services such as social media even if they don’t fully trust them.
“People are now less aware of what happens to their personal data – particularly in the US, where we see a 15% drop in certainty of what happens with personal information (from 40% in 2019 to 25 % this year). This lack of trust or understanding leads to people not wanting to divulge their information, even when there is a potential reward. Only 30% are now willing to trade losing their privacy for possible benefits, down from 35%.
“Although the level of scepticism is higher, people are however willing to put their concern aside for the greater good. For example, to help stop the spread of the pandemic, 51% of respondents would still permit the recording of their health data to improve the general well-being or saving lives. And 30% would be happy to share their location or personal data if there’s value in doing this.”
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