The report explores how brands should be looking to develop ongoing relationships with customers, how to define those relationships and what can be expected of the increasingly data-savvy, data-wary customer.

In this post I’m going to cover some of the key attitudes consumers have towards data and the way brands handle that data, as highlighted by the report. 

Consumers still wary of ‘stalker’ media

54% of consumers worry about advertisers misusing their data, highlighting a significant lack of trust between the person in the street and the brands trying to market to them. 

A further 28% worry about their TV eavesdropping on conversations at home, while 39% worry about their mobile phone publicly sharing their location.

Despite this wariness, however, consumers say they are interested in receiving advertising messages based on their location data, which suggests that the need for convenience in some cases outweighs the fear of data misuse. 

62% of consumers are interested in special offers nearby, such as two-for-one deals, and 59% are interested in free give-aways in local places. 

Brands must provide improved customer service in exchange for data

Consumer feeling seems to strongly suggest that companies should do the following: 

  • Only ask for a customer’s information once.
  • Know who the customer is when they contact the company after providing that information.

You can see further evidence of this in the chart below. 

Q: To what extent do you expect the following as a result of providing personal information?

customer service and data exchange

The top three statements apply to customer convenience.

Once a customer has provided their data to a brand that company should then use that data to make the customer journey easier. Otherwise what is the trade-off?

The bottom two statements apply to personalisation. Consumers have stated across many different pieces of research that they don’t mind offers as long as they are relevant, so this should be a top priority for marketers.  

Consumer attitudes towards data are changing 

The report also highlights three distinct attitudes to data amongst consumers, which suggests a creeping acceptance of the way in which data is freely exchanged and applied. 

The three attitudes are: 

  • Pragmatists: those who consider how to manage their data exchange. This group has grown from 53% to 54%.
  • Fundamentalists: those who are ideologically opposed to data sharing. This group has decreased from 31% to 24%.
  • The unconcerned: those who are not fussed either way. This group has grown from 16% to 22%. 

As you can see from the above figures, there is a growing trend towards consumers being less precious about what happens to their data, which should mean further opportunities for brands in future. 

Download the full report for lots more insight around data exchange.