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Most Americans are not enthusiastic about obtaining discounts in return for their personal information. They don’t believe the data for discounts is a fair deal and most consumers think marketers misrepresent the benefits of sharing personal information, according to new survey results from the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Pennsylvania.
The researchers’ findings contradict marketers’ arguments, as well as previous studies, that consumers willingly accept widespread tracking of their backgrounds, behaviors, and lifestyles across devices in return for worthwhile benefits.
Some findings from the Annenberg survey of 1,506 adult Americans are:
91% disagree (77% of them strongly) with the statement that “If companies give me a discount, it is a fair exchange for them to collect information about me without my knowing.”
71% disagree (53% of them strongly) that “It’s fair for an online or physical store to monitor what I’m doing online when I’m there, in exchange for letting me use the store’s wireless internet, or Wi-Fi, without charge.”
55% disagree (38% of them strongly) that “It’s okay if a store where I shop uses information it has about me to create a picture of me that improves the services they provide for me.”
Surprising Contradictions
The survey showed contradictions in consumer behavior. Although most disagreed with the concept of trading their information for discounts, many agreed to share it in real life examples. When asked if they would take discounts in exchange for allowing their supermarket to collect information about their grocery purchases, 43% — more than twice as many as those who broadly supported the trade-off concept, agreed to share.
Why the discrepancy? Many are simply resigned to having marketers surveil their actions and collect their data, according to researchers. Those who are resigned do not predictably decide when to give up their data. In the case of the grocery store example, 57% of those who took the deal were resigned to a lack of privacy. Only 32% supported the trade-off in theory.
UPenn professor Joseph Turow, one of the authors of the Annenberg report, told Philly.com, “Marketers always say that people are against stuff, but that if you give them any kind of coupon, they’ll sell their mother. [Consumers are] getting the right kind of information from Google, they’re getting sociability from Facebook, they’re getting all these things in the supermarket for using the loyalty card.”
They Don’t Understand
Ironically, and contrary to many academic claims about the reason people give up their information, those consumers who know the most about marketing practices are more likely to be resigned about marketers using their personal information.
The survey also finds that many people lack the basic knowledge needed to calculate the benefits of sharing their personal information. Many overestimate the government’s ability protect them from discriminatory pricing, or changing prices based on consumer’s individual profiles. Almost half incorrectly think supermarkets must obtain permission to sell their information about food purchases to third parties, and 69% don’t know pharmacies don’t need their permission to sell information about over-the-counter drugs they buy.
Bottom Line: A new survey casts doubt on marketers’ argument that consumers willingly permit businesses to track their online behaviors and shopping habits in return for discounts.
What’s your opinion? Are consumers being misled about sharing their information? Is the data for discounts deal fair? Please comment below.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
