Fifth Dimension Research Shows Consumers Are Happy To Get A Psychology Profile If It’ll Improve Their Digital Experiences

Australian strategic research and consulting agency, Fifth Dimension, has released ground-breaking research which shows that consumers are open to sharing information on their psychological profile in order to receive personalised digital customer experiences.

The research undertaken by Fifth Dimension during the first quarter of 2022 explored Australian consumer attitudes towards psychological profiling and how it can provide insights into their needs.

Founded by Lyndall Spooner, a highly acclaimed expert in the field of strategy, research and customer experience (CX) with over 25 years of experience, Fifth Dimension Consulting is a respected and globally focused industry-leading strategic research and consulting agency that has amassed a distinguished portfolio of well-known clients including: Westpac, Coles, HCF, Telstra, Foxtel, Colgate and the Commonwealth Bank.

“Our research shows there are numerous mutual benefits for companies and consumers to build personalised digital experiences based on the transparent exchange of personal psychological information,” Fifth Dimension founder and CEO, Lyndall Spooner said.

“We are constantly told in the media that consumers are reluctant to hand over their personal information for fear of the information being misused or weaponised. Yet seven in 10 consumers, 72 percent, say they would be likely to provide information on their psychology so that digital services could be personalised for them.

“The younger the person, the more likely they are to share their psychological profile; 83 percent of Gen Z and millennials said they would share their personal information versus 55 percent of baby boomers.

“While as consumers we have all embraced the digital world and the convenience it brings, there is an acknowledgement that ease and speed has come at the cost of personalisation. Speed and ease is of most benefit when you have confidence in your decisions, but when you are less confident a completely frictionless and Teflon process can weaken commitment to the outcome. There is now a need to rebalance simply getting things done fast with getting things done well.

“Overwhelmingly, 83 percent of consumers believe digital experiences should be personalised to suit different people and their preferences and 81 percent would like to be able to customise how they deal with companies online.

“Consumers believe using their psychological profiling information to personalise their digital experiences will improve both their decisions and their likelihood to form positive behaviours.”

Fifth Dimension research identified key areas where consumers agree personalisation is most likely to improve decision making and help form positive behaviours. These include:

• Career options – 69 percent,
• Managing your health- 74 percent,
• Managing your finances – 75 percent; and
• Choosing the right products and services for your needs – 80 percent

“Psychological profiling is seen as a powerful way to improve the comprehension of information and to introduce nudges that reduce the risk of less informed people making poor decisions,” Spooner said.

“When it comes to improving comprehension, consumers would like to choose the balance and mix of visual versus detailed text as well as the sophistication of language.

“Poor comprehension fundamentally weakens the decision process and confidence in outcomes. You can’t feel good about a decision or the company providing services to you if you don’t fully understand the information you are being shown – and the slicker the process the worse this can get.

“The risk of making a poor decision can also be improved by allowing consumers to choose the speed at which they digitally interact. Almost eight in 10 consumers would like the ability to choose how fast or slow they move through a digital experience, and to receive prompts along the process for things they may want to consider that they may not be aware of.

“If we were dealing with customer service people face to face, those people would personalise the experience for the customer; they would change their language or how they explain things to different people as well as explore what the consumer may or may not be aware of to ensure they are making an informed decision.

“Digital experiences have become far too focussed on operational speed and many fail to deliver any form of personalised service. We have prioritised getting people through the funnel as fast as possible, regardless of whether or not those decisions could have long-term negative impacts.

“Improving buying decisions directly results in better outcomes for the customer and their confidence and commitment to the provider, and fewer post sale issues and lower churn rates for the business.”

More in-depth information and results concerning the research are available through Fifth Dimension.