Ahead of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, it’s been revealed that a number of UK consumers deliberately provide incorrect information about themselves to brands. According to research from Treasure Data, 25% of Brits intentionally provide false data to brands, while 47% try to withhold personal data, creating a problem for marketers who plan to capture as much first-party data as possible this festive season.
The survey of 2,000 UK consumers also found that 34% will not use their primary email address when signing up to brand communications. Interestingly, it’s the younger generations who are most likely to not hand over their primary email address, with 45% of 18-34-year-olds choosing not to, compared to 25% of those aged 55 and over.
“This Black Friday, marketers have an elaborate concoction of obstacles in their hands as consumers add the issue of data collection and accuracy into the mix alongside the cost-of-living crisis and looming recession,” said Andrew Stephenson, Director of Marketing EMEA & India at Treasure Data. “It’s imperative that brands demonstrate accordingly the importance of data sharing – and the value Brits will receive in return for doing so – through personalised, helpful content. If not, brands risk Black Friday being a damp squib at a time when its success is most critical.”
The research also found, while there is some reluctance to hand over personal data, 19% of consumers would unsubscribe from a brand’s mailing list within a week if the content wasn’t relevant. And a further 43% say that less than 10% of the content they receive from brands makes them click through.
Moreover, whilst 51% of UK consumers receive between one and 10 brand communications every day, 72% of them feel that less than half is relevant or appropriate to them.
“What’s also clear from our research is that there’s an uphill battle for marketers in ensuring the consumer data they do have isn’t jeopardised by content that simply isn’t fit-for-purpose. There are several ways that brands can tackle this – from exploring the tools on the market that take customer data and create actionable insights, to upskilling and empowering marketing teams to understand what to do with what they have,” said Stephenson.
“As we ride the upcoming recession into the next couple of years, data management is going to be one of the key battlegrounds for brands where consumer loyalty and advocacy is won or lost.”
