Introduction
How US Consumers Really Feel About Online Privacy and Marketing in 2023
With the steady rollout of privacy legislation and sweeping changes from tech companies, privacy is top of mind for consumers – but how does that awareness impact online behaviors? What information are consumers comfortable sharing on the web, and do they love or loathe targeting technologies that power today’s digital advertising ecosystem?
Tinuiti’s third annual privacy study aims to explore the answers to these questions and more. Based on the responses of 1,000 U.S. consumers, this report reveals the attitudes that shape online behavior and preferences surrounding online privacy. With the survey findings as a guide, companies can chart a course toward marketing campaigns that resonate as cool – not creepy.
iOS vs Android - Is Apple’s Privacy PR Working?
Nearly two thirds of respondents said that online data privacy considerations were very important or the most important factor in determining their choice of a mobile phone, highlighting an important consideration for many consumers. Just 5% said online privacy considerations weren’t at all important in considering mobile phones.
In the case of both iOS and Android, a majority of daily internet users said that these mobile operating systems improved their privacy protection in the past year compared to previous years. 55% of respondents chose iOS as the mobile operating system that best protects consumer data privacy, compared to 34% who selected Android, as Apple’s efforts to promote itself as a privacy protector appears to have had an impact over the years on public perception.
At the same time, though, Android users were very likely to defend their preferred mobile OS, with 78% saying it does a better job than iOS at protecting privacy. iOS users were even more loyal, however, with 87% saying it protected consumer data privacy better than Android. Just over 63% of Android users said that online data privacy considerations were either a very important factor or the most important factor in their choice of a mobile phone, while 66% of iOS users said the same.
Which Platforms Have Built the Most Trust?
When asked to rank Google, Meta, and Amazon based on how much they trust them to protect online consumer privacy, respondents most commonly chose Google as the best, followed closely by Amazon. Facebook fared the worst, with just 19% selecting it as the best of these three, which is likely tied to its status as the only one of the three platforms designed for sharing information publicly.
Diving into which social media platform consumers most trust to protect online privacy, YouTube was the top pick for 14% of respondents, beating Facebook by less than 1%. Instagram came in third at 8%, followed by TikTok with 6%. Among monthly active TikTok users, however, the platform received 10% of votes, surpassing Instagram among the same respondents.
Google and Amazon won out as the most trusted search engine and marketplace, respectively, with each capturing more than 40% of respondents’ votes. Among marketplaces, Amazon was a consistent top pick across generations with 43% of Gen Z choosing it, compared to 41% among baby boomers. Target saw a much broader range in results, coming in as the top pick for 17% of Gen Z, but just 4% of Boomers.
Impressively, 15% of respondents said DuckDuckGo was the best search engine for protecting privacy, even though only 7% reported that they use DuckDuckGo at least monthly. Among those that do use DuckDuckGo monthly, the smaller search engine was the top pick for 58% of respondents, with Google still getting 22% support. Across generations, DuckDuckGo’s strongest showing was among boomers, 23% of whom made it their top pick.
Respondents were much less likely to be able to select a social platform that best protects privacy than search engine or marketplace, with 45% saying there was either no difference between social platforms or that they weren’t sure. This share was less than 30% when it came to selecting a search engine or marketplace, as US consumers clearly have a harder time trusting social media platforms than other types of platforms.
Consumers Take Action to Protect Their Online Privacy
Fully 54% of all respondents said they’d cleared their browser cookies for privacy reasons, and more than half had also turned off location services/sharing. One third of those surveyed said they had stopped using a website or app entirely for privacy reasons, highlighting how important it is for apps and websites to communicate what they’re doing to ensure consumer data protection.
From Gen Z through baby boomers, baby boomers were the least likely to take six of the 10 privacy-related steps assessed in this report. While Gen Z was most likely to cover their camera, go into incognito mode, change their search behavior, use a disposable email address, or use a VPN, they were the least likely to: turn off location sharing, clear browser cookies, stop using an app or website entirely, or use an ad blocker. The only step boomers were most likely to take was clearing browser cookies.
When asked if they find it easy to find and remove personal data from websites or apps, 27% say they’ve never tried. Of those that had tried, a narrow majority of 52% said they do find it easy to remove their data, meaning many consumers have had trouble removing their personal information from websites and apps.
“Just 12% of those surveyed said they weren't at all concerned that AI-powered technology will open up more privacy concerns in the future...”
Looking ahead to a world in which technology will increasingly be powered by artificial intelligence, just 12% of those surveyed said that they weren’t at all concerned that AI-powered technology will open up more privacy concerns in the future, with 29% saying they’re very concerned. Respondents who are more concerned about the implications of AI-powered tech were more likely to answer that they had taken actions like clearing browser cookies for privacy reasons than respondents who were less concerned about AI.
Consumers Are More Likely to Embrace Tracking When Tied to Keeping Platforms Free
Over 70% of respondents would prefer to opt out of tracking and receive less relevant ads than to allow tracking and receive more relevant ads. This highlights how much consumers dislike the idea of ‘tracking,’ which is the term used in Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompts that allow users to prohibit apps from using mobile IDs to track their behavior.
However, 57% of those surveyed say they would be okay with advertisers being able to see that they made a purchase on an advertiser’s website/app after seeing or clicking on an ad if it helps to keep the apps they use free of charge. Given that 82% of respondents would rather continue to use apps like Google, Facebook, and other news and media outlets for free with ads rather than pay to use them, it’s clear that many more consumers would be willing to allow tracking if there’s a direct connection between tracking and the cost of the websites and apps they use.
While a similar share of Gen Z and baby boomers were okay with advertisers being able to see if a purchase on their website or app was preceded by an ad impression or click (59% for Gen Z vs. 54% for boomers), Gen Z members were much more likely than baby boomers to say that they would rather allow tracking and see more relevant ads, than opt out of tracking (36% for Gen Z vs. 12% for boomers). Given this discrepancy, younger generations may have a better understanding of the economics of internet platforms, what data is most valuable to advertisers, or the term “tracking” may simply be less loaded for them.
By very similar margins, between 65-71%, most consumers believe that apps and websites should obtain user consent before using purchase history, first and third-party apps/websites visited, demographic info, and general interests to personalize the app or web experience. Across age groups, though, Gen Z was an average of 14 points less likely than baby boomers to agree that apps and websites should obtain consent before using these pieces of information for personalization.
Who Are Internet Users Most Afraid Will Misuse Their Data?
Almost a third of respondents chose criminals as the group they were most concerned will misuse data collected from online activity, followed by the government in second. Advertisers came in a distant third, with just 12% of respondents selecting this group.
While all generations were most concerned about criminals, just 25% of Gen Z made it their top choice compared to 45% of baby boomers. At the same time, Gen Z was disproportionately concerned about employers and tech companies compared to baby boomers.
These findings align with the types of data that respondents were most concerned about being shared or tracked online, with 37% selecting information that could be used to steal their identity, followed by information about respondents’ financial situations. Just 5% of those surveyed were most concerned about products they’d viewed online being shared or tracked. Gen Z was less concerned than older generations about information that could be used to steal their identity, but still made it their top choice.
While consumers are clearly concerned about criminal uses of their data, very few feel like they have a strong grasp of online privacy laws. Just 12% of respondents said that they were very familiar with recent legislation related to online privacy, and 47% said they were not at all familiar with such legislation. Gen Z was most likely to say they were familiar with recent privacy legislation, with 65% saying they were at least somewhat familiar, compared to 36% of baby boomers.
What Are Consumers Looking for in Exchange for Email Addresses and Other Contact Details?
Over 60% of respondents said they’d be willing to give up their email address in exchange for a $20 coupon or discount code. When asked to select the minimum percent off they would need to provide a website or app with an email address, 67% selected 20% or higher. Just 13% said that no percentage discount would entice them, as the vast majority of consumers can be incentivized to provide websites and apps with email addresses with discount offers.
In exchange for a $20 coupon or discount, Gen Z was more willing than baby boomers to provide each piece of contact information assessed for this report, but the biggest difference was for a phone number. Just under 46% of Gen Z would provide a phone number in this scenario compared to just 14% of boomers. Millennials and Gen X were in the middle, with 33% and 29% saying, respectively, that they would provide a phone number for the equivalent of $20.
In terms of what kind of offer would most likely induce respondents to provide an email address, free shipping actually beat out coupons/discount codes for the most popular perk, though only narrowly.
Exclusive content, early access to products or services, and other loyalty rewards each garnered less than 8% of respondent selections as the most likely to incentivize giving up an email address. Early access was relatively popular among younger generations, with 9% of Gen Z selecting it, compared to just 2% for boomers.
Knowing how to attract email addresses is important in part because respondents chose email messages as the most popular environment to receive personalized promotional messaging. The 47% who said they feel comfortable with personalized messaging in email messages far outpaced the second most popular environment, text messages, which attracted only 33% of respondents.