Study: 39% of UK public don’t trust marketers with their personal data

The damning report lays bare an alarming disconnect between what marketers say and what they do, with no less than 99% claiming they adhere to rules enshrining consumer privacy in law. This head-in-sand approach leads 87% to believe consumers trust their handling of personal data more than last year, in stark opposition to real-world sentiment.

The research drew upon responses of 1,000 consumers and 100 marketers from across the UK to find that a worrying 24% of the public received daily unsolicited communications, undermining confidence in GDPR to enforce explicit consent.

In this environment, 69% of consumers report being sanguine about handing over personal data in return for improved services, a significant increase from 2020 when the proportion stood at 57%.

Tom Bianchi, Europe chief marketing officer of Acquia, said: “With the vast majority of UK consumers receiving communication they are unaware of consenting to, we are almost certainly looking at a widespread violation of GDPR rules.

“Not only does this have legal ramifications, but unsolicited marketing breaks consumer trust and risks long-term damage to brand equity. Marketers are rightly recognizing that to restore trust, greater emphasis must be placed on first-party strategies, with our findings clearly demonstrating how these lead to increased customer loyalty and spend.”

Marketers have been forced to rethink strategies in the wake of a shifting regulatory environment, with 57% adopting consent-driven personalization as first-party data grows in importance in the eyes of 93% of marketers – 54% of whom have invested in customer data platforms over the past 18 months.

Acquia reports that 62% of marketers benefited from increased consumer brand engagement as a result of personalization strategies, witnessing increased conversions (55%), better responses to discount offers (48%) and improved email open rates (40%).