We consumers are funny creatures. As has no doubt been observed many times, there is a great disconnect between all of the hand-wringing over data privacy and our collective social media habits. We freak out about who’s doing what with our information at the same time as we bare our souls (and so much more) on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
It’s for this and other reasons that I’ve been watching the rise of the whole “Internet of things” concept with interest. People seem to have some of the same types of conflicted reactions to wearing a monitor that will track and report their activities or to using a smart thermostat made by a company owned by Google. We love the convenience and the potentially life-changing impact that these tech marvels can have but we also (wisely) realize how creepy some of them potentially could be if the wrong entities got involved.
Findings from the 2014 State of the Internet of Things Study, by Acquity Group, a digital marketing agency, highlight this battle. The study found that 80 percent of consumers have privacy concerns with wearable Internet-connected technologies but half of those same consumers said they would be willing to share personal data collected by such devices with third-party retailers when presented with compensation such as a coupon or discount.
While only 9 percent of consumers stated they would share data with brands for free, those percentages dramatically increase when consumers are presented with a coupon or discount in exchange for sharing data.
Specifically, consumers are most willing to share wearable data in exchange for:
• coupons and discounts based on their lifestyles (28 percent);
• information on better workouts to reach their goals (22 percent);
• information on the best foods to eat to reach their goals (22 percent);
• coupons for fitness gear (19 percent).
Which third-parties would they be willing to share data with? Fifty-three percent of consumers said they would share with doctors; 27 percent with family and 17 percent with friends. Less than 40 percent of consumers wouldn’t share data with anyone.
When it comes to smart appliances, while cost is a consideration, consumers are comparatively less worried about price than other factors, especially when it comes to safety over novelty:
• 83 percent of consumers would pay a premium for a smart smoke alarm, equipped with features such as clear emergency instructions and Wi-Fi capabilities;
• 59 percent would pay a premium for a smart refrigerator, equipped with features such as an LCD screen showing food quantity and expiration date;
• only 22 percent express strong concerns about the price of these devices.
Beneficial vs. creepy
Again illustrating the razor’s edge of beneficial vs. creepy, some consumers believe those potentially invasive-sounding smart appliances would be just fine – and they would even be willing to pay a premium in some cases. For example, the features consumers believe would be most beneficial in connected in-home technology such as smart refrigerators include:
• location-based automatic coupons or offers on their mobile device for frequently-purchased foods (86 percent);
• information on the least-expensive places to purchase favorite products (82 percent);
• recipes on their mobile device for food they can make from the products in their refrigerator (85 percent).
On that last one, thinking back to the contents of some of the refrigerators I opened during my college years, I shudder to think what kinds of recipes would’ve been suggested!