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Survey: Consumers concerned about privacy; will share some data

6/2/2014

New York - The vast majority (80%) of consumers aged 20-40 in the U.S. and U.K. believe total privacy in the digital world is a thing of the past, but nearly half (49%) said they would not object to having their buying behavior tracked if it would result in relevant offers from brands and suppliers. A new study of 2,012 consumers by Accenture also shows.64% of respondents said that when they are physically in a store, they would welcome text messages from that retailer alerting them to offers matching their buying preferences.



Other notable results include:



• The majority of respondents (87%) believe adequate safeguards are not in place to protect their personal information.



• Sixty-four percent, compared to 85% from the 2012 survey, are concerned about websites tracking their buying behavior.



• More than half (56%) say they are trying to safeguard their privacy by inputting their credit card information each time they make an online purchase rather than having that data stored for future use.



• Seventy percent of respondents believe businesses aren’t transparent about how their information is being used, and 68% say there is not enough transparency around what is being done with their information.



• Forty percent of respondents believe only 10% of their personal data is actually private.



• Although 42% believe vendors and suppliers are using their personal data in order to provide them with more relevant offers, 39% believe their data is being sold.



In addition, to rank the factors that would make them most likely to complete the purchase of a product or service, respondents’ top three choices were sales and competitive pricing (61%), superior products (36%) and superior customer experience both online and in-store (35%). Customer loyalty programs and relevant promotions followed, at 31% and 26%, respectively, but engaging advertising campaigns and celebrity endorsements trailed far behind, at 6% and 3%, respectively.



“In today’s digital age where consumers are connected and empowered and data is abundant, businesses must align their organizations, technology and strategies to deliver relevant and loyalty-enabling experiences to their consumers,” said Glen Hartman, global managing director of digital transformation for Accenture Interactive. “As the business leader who typically owns the customer experience for most organizations, the chief marketing officer should be in the driver’s seat to encourage a customer-centric digital transformation that generates experiences to meet consumer needs.”


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