Consumers are apt to believe that companies are more likely than they are to benefit from the collection and usage of data. That hasn’t necessarily stopped consumers from sharing their data, though many expect financial rewards in the future. In fact some 47% of global consumers agree that, in the future, they will receive financial benefits in exchange for organizations using their data, per a new report [download page] from Dentsu Aegis Network.
Consumers in the US are somewhat less likely than the global average to see the future financial benefits of allowing organizations to use their data. Only 41% say they agree that they will see such benefits in the future, though previous research has found that 7 in 10 would be willing to share their data in exchange for compensation. By comparison, nearly two-thirds (65%) of the Chinese consumers surveyed by Dentsu Aegis expect financial benefits for the use of their data in the coming years.
That said, at this point in time, consumers tend not to trust organizations with their personal data. While fewer than half say they trust government agencies (48%) and pharmaceutical and healthcare companies (48%) with their data, fewer still trust technology companies (37%), retailers (34%), and media and entertainment companies (27%). Indeed, the majority (65%) say that one of the main reasons for their distrust in the technology industry is the misuse of personal data.
This mistrust is likely responsible for the number of consumers who are taking action to change or limit their behavior online, including the more than two-fifths (42%) of global consumers who agree that they have taken steps to reduce the amount of data they share online in the past year. Another 32% of global respondents and 27% of US respondents have changed their behavior by taking actions to opt-out of personalized advertisements.
Furthermore, consumers believe it is important to gain explicit consent before organizations use their personal data, whether it be to support research and development addressing societal change (67%), to give access to promotions and discounts (62%) or to tailor products and services more closely to them (62%).
And, if an organization experiences a data breach or uses data irresponsibly, more than three-quarters (77%) of consumers say they would stop using that brand, with 7 in 10 US consumers saying they would do so. This is up considerably from a YouGov survey in 2017 that found that only one-quarter of US consumers would boycott a brand due to a data breach.
The full report can be found here.
About the Data: Findings are based on a survey of 32,000 consumers across 22 markets.
