Ask for too much and lose trust

If you ask for too much personal data, consumers are less likely to trust your brand, a new report from the Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA) has found.

The report also found that if companies that demonstrate good behaviour however around the compiling of personal details, consumers are more likely to share their details with them.

Consumers get that data sharing can be beneficial as it can enhance their experience with a brand from the personalisation as well as deals and offers.

However 77% of consumers won’t share their details if they’re asked for too much personal information, and 70% won’t give information to companies who’ve received negative media attention for data breaches or poor security.

“You can be a great brand, but that’s not what’s important to the consumer when deciding whether to disclose their personal information,” Jodie Sangster, CEO of ADMA, said.

“It’s about brand behaviour, the degree to which companies are transparent about what they do with personal information and making sure it’s not overused. These are the contributing factors to building trust. If your behaviour is questionable, customers aren’t going to want to deal with you. That’s the message of our report.

“This is a wakeup call for business. You can’t just rely on your brand. The way companies collect information from consumers, and the way they manage the data they have, are going to be crucial in the future to grow consumer confidence.”

Three ways customers suggested brands should go about gathering personal data is:

don’t ask for too much information or sensitive details
provide options for consumers to remove their information from company records
ensure marketing communications is always relevant.

Other statistics from the report state that if using social media consumers are more likely to feel comfortable sharing details such as their name and email address.

While just under half (48%) are willing to share their name with brands, this jumps to 70% if it’s on social media.

Similarly with their email address, 41% not on social media and 61% if using social media.

“The report shows consumers’ main concern is whether their data will be shared without their knowledge,” Sangster added.

“This is top of mind for them. Much of this discomfort stems from a lack of clarity of what companies plan to do with the information they have and who their information may be passed/sold onto.

“Transparency is critical to building consumer trust and brands should be focused on this as a critical factor to future business success.”

The Attitudes, Information Sharing, Privacy and Building Trust report was commissioned by ADMA for Privacy Awareness Week (May 4-10, 2014) and conducted by research company GfK.

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