Consumers are largely turned off by overly frequent emails and irrelevant content. But those concerns vary by age and location, according to The Audience of One 2022: Getting Personalization Right,
a study released Tuesday by Movable Ink.
For instance, 23% of 18-24 year-olds will unsubscribe after getting content that is not pertinent to them, versus 47% of those
65+. But those in the younger category are more likely to opt out because they do not like the content — 25% versus 16% of the over-65 cohort.
Of consumers polled in the
U.S., Canada and UK/Ireland, 42% are irritated by too-frequent messaging and 35% by irrelevant content. And 22% dislike content that is too focused on selling, and 21% by material that doesn’t
appear correctly on mobile or web.
Willingness to share personal data also varies by age:
- 18-24
— 62%
- 24-34 — 65%
- 35-44 — 60%
- 45-54
— 58%
- 55-64 — 48%
- 65+ — 45%
In general, shoppers are also
worried about privacy, in particular:
- Their data being sold to other parties — 46%
- Their data being stolen
— 45%
- A lack of privacy — 26%
In fact, 40% would cancel services or not buying from the company again in response to a misuse of
personal information, and 29% would unsubscribe from emails.
U.S. consumers are most likely to not purchase again. And 20% globally say transparency is a prime consideration.
Despite all that, 61% worldwide are likely to buy goods or service in response to a personalized experience. That figure hits 63% in the U.S.
And, email is the most preferred
communication channel globally:
- Email recommendations — 54%
- In-app recommendations — 48%
- Social media ad recommendations — 38%
- Banner/website ad recommendations — 35%
- SMS recommendations
— 30%
What kind of data will consumers share for a personalized experience?
- Gender — 78%
- Age
— 69%
- Email address — 66%
- Marital status — 60%
- Birthday
— 59%
- Location — 44%
- Number of children in household — 46%
- Household income — 32%
- Cell phone number — 31%
Of those polled, 69% in the UK/Ireland will provide their email address,
versus 63% in Canada.
In addition, people are comfortable with giving the following types of information in exchange for personalized product or service recommendations:
- Satisfaction with past orders, products or services — 68%
- Ideal price range — 67%
- Product categories of
interest — 65%
- Size — 63%
- Fit/body type — 55%
- Interest/hobbies — 57%
- Order and search history — 49%
- Profession
— 45%
- Information about daily habits (i.e., eating, exercising, etc.) — 41%
TEAM LEWIS
Research surveyed 3,000 consumers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland from April 10, 2022 to April 20, 2022 on behalf of Movable Ink.