The majority of British consumers are ready to share personal data with brands for marketing purposes, according to a recent survey by Experian.
The information services company examined the attitudes of 2,000 respondents to sharing marketing information across six channels, including e-mail, post and social networks.
The survey showed that 55% of consumers would be happy to share information across one channel, against 19% and 8% who would do so across two channels and three to five channels, respectively. However, nearly a fifth (18%) would not give companies access to their personal data, with those aged over 55 representing 40% of this category, the study found.
Naturally, the “Facebook Generation” is more open to sharing personal information with brands, with 38% of 18-to-24-year-olds ready to exchange data across multiple channels compared with 27% of all consumers.
E-mail was cited by 69% of respondents as their preferred channel for connecting to brands, followed by post (27%), while Facebook and Twitter were preferred channels for just 8% and 4% of survey participants, respectively.
The survey also explored consumers’ interaction with brands, establishing that 46% buy online or via mail order, 44% use loyalty cards, 30% use Google to search for brands, 5% use Facebook applications and 3% tweet about products and services. Another 15% shun any such activity, according to the findings.
