Consumer Privacy Is A Ticking Time Bomb For Customer Intelligence Executives

Despite renewed interest from Washington, D.C., regarding consumer privacy, the marketing industry continues to call for self-regulation — a concept that is given shorter shrift following its perceived role in preventing the financial crisis. Given this disconnect, to understand consumer sentiment as it relates to privacy, we analyzed survey data gathered from more than 4,500 US consumers in Q3 2008. The bad news for marketers is that consumers perceive little value in sharing their information with them. As the group most responsible for capturing and managing customer data, Customer Intelligence professionals need to take an active role in their companies' approaches to managing consumer privacy. Unless firms can demonstrate a value exchange, consumer privacy promises to be a ticking time bomb that could significantly hinder a company's Customer Intelligence efforts.