Customers want control over their data and will not hesitate to switch brands to achieve this
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 4:08 am
Improving online privacy is one of the most important steps marketers can take to increase brand preference and ensure that nearly half of their customers do not switch to another brand.
A Google and Ipsos study found that 49% of respondents said a positive privacy experience with their second-favorite brand would lead them to choose it over their traditional first-choice brand.
The study, which included 16,000 respondents from Brazil, sweden phone number material Canada, Mexico and the United States, also revealed the extent to which a negative privacy experience can damage both trust and preference for a brand. In the words of one Canadian respondent: “I want to know exactly what you are doing with my data. Be direct and use plain language.”
These results highlight the importance of giving customers a sense of control over their information and show how to deliver positive privacy experiences that effectively convey this feeling.
Help customers feel in control of the three M's
For customers, feeling in control involves more than just actually having it . Privacy tools that allow them to change cookie preferences and opt out of email marketing campaigns can help them take control of their data.
But these tools aren't enough to give them the more substantial sense of control they need to trust a brand. Consumers also want to know when and why they share their information and understand the benefits they will gain from doing so.
Line drawings of a hand holding arrows pointing in opposite directions, a string tied around a finger, and settings sliders represent the 3 Ms of putting people in control of their data privacy: Meaningful, memorable, and manageable.
A 2021 privacy survey by Google offers some clues on how to foster this sense of control. Based on interviews with 7,000 people across 5 European countries, the research revealed that customers want privacy-related interactions to be:
Meaningful , showing people what they get in return for sharing their data.
Memorable (Memorable) - remember what data you've shared and when.
Manageable , which provide tools for users to manage their privacy.
Recent research shows that when brands can deliver these types of interactions, customers find ads more relevant and experience more positive emotional responses.
As one participant from Mexico explained, when companies offer positive privacy experiences, “I open the messages and read the ads with pleasure, because I know they will bring something important to me.”
Implementing the three M's
To understand how these findings can be applied in the real world, Google came up with a set of data privacy practices that marketers can implement to make privacy-related interactions more meaningful, memorable, and manageable. They then tested them in hypothetical customer scenarios to see which ones were most effective.
Google found that there are clear actions advertisers can take to increase customers’ sense of control . The top 3 most effective were asking users how and how often they want to be reminded about their privacy settings, requesting consent to customize a website experience, and offering consumers additional assurances when personalizing that experience.
Privacy practices that increase the feeling of control
A horizontal bar graph shows how much more in control people feel when privacy practices are implemented, for example reminders of privacy settings (+7%), gaining consent to personalize website (+6%), and asking to select interests (+3% ).
Think with Google
Source: Google/Ipsos, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, US, "Privacy by Design: The benefits of putting people in control", n=8,000 online participants ages 18-70, July 2022.
How privacy drives more effective marketing
We saw how individual privacy practices can have a big impact on customers’ sense of control. But we also saw what happened when we combined the 3 most effective practices in each country.
Across all four markets, the right combinations of practices did much more than increase feelings of control. They also increased positive emotional responses to ads displayed, the perceived relevance of ads , and customers’ willingness to trust brands with their personal data.
For example, in the United States, the top three most effective privacy practices were asking customers how (and how often) they wanted to be reminded of their privacy settings, asking for consent to personalize a website, and sending a privacy summary via email.
The combination of these practices can give customers a greater sense of control and increase trust in the handling of their personal data. It can also make ads seem more relevant and cause consumers to respond more positively to them.
A Google and Ipsos study found that 49% of respondents said a positive privacy experience with their second-favorite brand would lead them to choose it over their traditional first-choice brand.
The study, which included 16,000 respondents from Brazil, sweden phone number material Canada, Mexico and the United States, also revealed the extent to which a negative privacy experience can damage both trust and preference for a brand. In the words of one Canadian respondent: “I want to know exactly what you are doing with my data. Be direct and use plain language.”
These results highlight the importance of giving customers a sense of control over their information and show how to deliver positive privacy experiences that effectively convey this feeling.
Help customers feel in control of the three M's
For customers, feeling in control involves more than just actually having it . Privacy tools that allow them to change cookie preferences and opt out of email marketing campaigns can help them take control of their data.
But these tools aren't enough to give them the more substantial sense of control they need to trust a brand. Consumers also want to know when and why they share their information and understand the benefits they will gain from doing so.
Line drawings of a hand holding arrows pointing in opposite directions, a string tied around a finger, and settings sliders represent the 3 Ms of putting people in control of their data privacy: Meaningful, memorable, and manageable.
A 2021 privacy survey by Google offers some clues on how to foster this sense of control. Based on interviews with 7,000 people across 5 European countries, the research revealed that customers want privacy-related interactions to be:
Meaningful , showing people what they get in return for sharing their data.
Memorable (Memorable) - remember what data you've shared and when.
Manageable , which provide tools for users to manage their privacy.
Recent research shows that when brands can deliver these types of interactions, customers find ads more relevant and experience more positive emotional responses.
As one participant from Mexico explained, when companies offer positive privacy experiences, “I open the messages and read the ads with pleasure, because I know they will bring something important to me.”
Implementing the three M's
To understand how these findings can be applied in the real world, Google came up with a set of data privacy practices that marketers can implement to make privacy-related interactions more meaningful, memorable, and manageable. They then tested them in hypothetical customer scenarios to see which ones were most effective.
Google found that there are clear actions advertisers can take to increase customers’ sense of control . The top 3 most effective were asking users how and how often they want to be reminded about their privacy settings, requesting consent to customize a website experience, and offering consumers additional assurances when personalizing that experience.
Privacy practices that increase the feeling of control
A horizontal bar graph shows how much more in control people feel when privacy practices are implemented, for example reminders of privacy settings (+7%), gaining consent to personalize website (+6%), and asking to select interests (+3% ).
Think with Google
Source: Google/Ipsos, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, US, "Privacy by Design: The benefits of putting people in control", n=8,000 online participants ages 18-70, July 2022.
How privacy drives more effective marketing
We saw how individual privacy practices can have a big impact on customers’ sense of control. But we also saw what happened when we combined the 3 most effective practices in each country.
Across all four markets, the right combinations of practices did much more than increase feelings of control. They also increased positive emotional responses to ads displayed, the perceived relevance of ads , and customers’ willingness to trust brands with their personal data.
For example, in the United States, the top three most effective privacy practices were asking customers how (and how often) they wanted to be reminded of their privacy settings, asking for consent to personalize a website, and sending a privacy summary via email.
The combination of these practices can give customers a greater sense of control and increase trust in the handling of their personal data. It can also make ads seem more relevant and cause consumers to respond more positively to them.