To share or not to share What consumers really think about sharing their personal information WHAT CAN COMPANIES DO TO Consumers are less likely HELP KEEP CONSUMERS’ TRUST? than ever to complete • Enforce privacy measures to prevent breaches in the feedback surveys—thanks first place: to privacy concerns – Encrypt data at rest – Destroy consumer data when not needed Consumer surveys are typically an important, time- tested practice for companies seeking opinions on cur- • Systematically control the damage after a breach has rent products, potential line extensions, other new occurred by identifying causes and implementing offerings, and overall brand awareness. That’s why it’s remedies that hasten recovery:6 not great news for companies that many consumers are – Identify affected systems and isolate them increasingly rejecting market research survey requests: Fifty-five percent of our US respondents said they – Gather all available evidence, and analyze it to declined to take a survey over the past year. determine cause, severity, and impact – Document how the incident came to light— Yet, at the same time, many consumers continue to say who reported it and how he or she discov- that companies should be soliciting their feedback, with ered the problem—and report findings to 75 percent of our respondents saying companies should relevant stakeholders do so twice a year. If the majority of consumers are open to companies asking for their opinion, why is the survey – Assess the possibility of insider involvement rejection rate so high? – Strengthen network security and Privacy concerns were the most common reason—by a improve protocols considerable margin—that our US respondents gave for – Enhance monitoring to mitigate the risk of declining to participate in a survey (figure 5). Among future breaches consumers for whom privacy was not the main reason, • Develop an integrated, enterprise-level approach to motives for deciding not to take a survey again differed data governance, and ensure the leader of this initia- by age group. Younger consumers tended to survey tive is a C-level executive requests more often than older consumers because they Figure 5. Consumers are less likely to take surveys than in the past, mainly due to privacy concerns During the past 12 months, did you Why did you decline to participate in a survey? decline to participate in any survey? Percentage of US respondents that declined to participate in a survey 52% Privacy concerns 49% 47% 55% 2012 2014 2016 9% Inadequate incentive 17% Didn’t have the time 18% Wasn’t interested in the topic Sample size: 5,000 (2012), 4,234 (2014), 1,538 (2016). Source: 2012, 2014: J. D. Power and Associates/SSI consumer survey; 2016: Deloitte/SSI 2016 consumer survey. Deloitte University Press | dupress.deloitte.com 55