More than a quarter (27%) of UK marketers believe individual privacy is an outdated concept. This is despite 94% of consumers saying they would not be willing to exchange their data for more relevant or personalised product recommendations.
That’s according to research from Episerver, released in the company’s 2018 Reimagining Commerce report, which surveyed 1000 UK consumers and 100 marketers, found that 40% of marketers believe that some degree of privacy must be sacrificed for the best experiences, while 58% believe that consumers value customer experience over their personal privacy.
In contrast, consumers were extremely reluctant to share their private data, with 96% saying they would be unwilling to share their phone numbers, 93% refusing to knowingly share their location and 98% saying they would not knowingly provide access to their social media data.
Despite this fact, a quarter (25%) of consumers say they are disappointed when brands do not personalise their experiences and 22% say they are more likely to purchase from brands using personalisation. This disconnect represents a delicate balance for brands to strike in the post-GDPR era.
Commenting on this contradiction, Ed Kennedy the Senior Director of Commerce at Episerver says: “Following numerous privacy scandals, it’s clear that consumers are more conscious of their personal privacy than ever before. At the same time, they don’t want to give up the retail benefits that come from big data analysis and personalisation.Clearly the marketing community needs to find a middle ground, one that respects consumer privacy but gives people the choice to actively opt-in to better, more customised, experiences. Unfortunately, our research suggests that most marketers are still way off the mark when it comes to understanding consumers’ privacy concerns.”
