Privacy

Consumers around the world generally find website customization to be of some value, with 33% of respondents to a new Adobe and Edelman Berland survey attributing some value to personalized product and service recommendations on websites, compared to 26% seeing little to no value. But, privacy concerns abound, according to the study, with 84% agreeing that there are too many technologies tracking and analyzing behavior and 82% agreeing that companies collect too much information on consumers. Some practices simply cross over from customization to an invasion of privacy: 79% feel that way about their information being collected without them knowing it. Read more »

23% of social media users in the UK have researched a product or service as a result of reading something on social media sites, according to a recent report from YouGov, representing a 6% point increase from a year earlier. Additionally, 13% have bought something as a result of reading something on a social media sites, up 7% points from the April 2012 survey. While that suggests that brands are more effectively engaging with social media users, their efforts are also proving to be a turn-off to some. Read more »

Consumers find some uses of personal information for loyalty programs to be "cool and exciting" (such as personalized discounts based on purchasing habits), but others exceed privacy boundaries and are simply "creepy and weird," according to [download page] a Maritz Loyalty Marketing study. The most invasive practice, cited by 52% of the study's respondents, is allowing programs to review their Facebook friends' status updates and photos to determine if they are eligible for rewards or special benefits based on shared interests. Read more »

Roughly 7 in 10 smartphone and tablet owners have tried to make purchases on their device, indicating a high degree of comfort and enthusiasm with mobile commerce, according to a new study commissioned by Jumio and conducted by Harris Interactive. However, two-thirds of this group report having abandoned a purchase due to a problem with the checkout experience. Most commonly, these respondents said they didn't feel comfortable entering their credit card information (51%), while many also blamed a checkout process that took too long (47%) or that was too difficult on their device (41%). Read more »

Mobile phone owners are reluctant to share data over privacy fears, and a majority wouldn't even lend their phone to a work colleague, according to research from McAfee. But despite these privacy concerns, many smartphone owners are not employing a range of security measures to safeguard themselves against privacy breaches. A new study from Consumer Reports finds that only 22% of smartphone users have installed an application to locate a missing phone, just 15% have installed antivirus apps, and less than 1 in 10 have an app that can delete the contents of their phone remotely. Read more »

Millennials (18-34) are getting somewhat comfortable with the idea of personal data sharing, at least when it comes with tangible benefits, according to survey results from the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future and Bovitz Inc. 51% of Millennials responding to the survey agreed that they're ok with sharing information with companies as long as they get something in return, compared to 40% of those aged 35 and older. That value-exchange is key: separately, 70% of Millennials (and 77% of the 35+ group) said that no-one should ever be allowed to have access to their personal data or web behavior. Read more »

68% of consumers with minimum household income of $150,000 ("wealthy shoppers") are willing to share their personal information with merchants online, but this tends to be a requirement-driven activity, with three-quarters of those saying they do so only to complete a transaction. That's according to survey results from the Luxury Institute, which also found that 63% would join a hypothetical online registry for blocking the tracking of their Web activities (a "do not track" list). Read more »

A survey of 123 marketers and 1,002 consumers on marketing practices and how they relate to permission has revealed a significant gap in perceptions regarding implicit permission (purchases, contents, product demos, registrations). The study, by RegReady, found that 77% of marketers believe that a consumer purchase does constitute marketing permission. But three-quarters of the consumers polled felt very strongly that making a purchase does not constitute permission to market to them on their mobile device, and 80% shared that sentiment about marketing via email. Read more »

64% of 18-24-year-olds want companies to respond to them when they talk about them online, according to [download page] a new e-book containing results from a survey by J.D. Power & Associates and NetBase. Older age groups mirror that sentiment, although just half of the 55+ group agree. While that suggests that in general, consumers want companies to respond to discussions about them online (generally referring to social media), separate results from the survey paint a more confusing picture. Read more »

Just 5% of American adults believe that companies should have the right to track their activities whenever they're online, while an opposing 28% feel that companies should never be able to track their online behavior, per results from a survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Microsoft. While that implies a negative sentiment towards online tracking, a majority 60% are ok with companies tracking them, but only if individuals give their permission. Read more »