Online privacy has been in the spotlight again recently with new age checks brought in to restrict access to online adult content and keep children safe. The latest rules bring back into focus how British consumers feel more generally about giving up personal data…
Online privacy has been in the spotlight again recently with new age checks brought in to restrict access to online adult content and keep children safe. The latest rules bring back into focus how British consumers feel more generally about giving up personal data online, especially when it comes to TV and video content.
Our GB TGI data reveals a mixed picture in how consumers today engage with questions of online privacy.
Attitudes towards giving away data online show signs of hardening
On the one hand there are signs of growing cautiousness. For example, well over half of adults are worried that any personal information they enter online will not remain secure. Such worry has been building over the years, with 56% of adults worried about this in 2016, up to 61% today.
Such trends are reinforced by a decline in willingness to accept cookies if it allows access to content that is of interest for free – down from 54% in 2022 to 49% today.
Increasingly consumers don’t mind ads if it means they see something relevant and entertaining
On the other hand, agreement with ‘I don’t mind sharing my personal data in order to get more personalised TV ads’ has grown considerably in recent years, from 14% in 2022 up to 20% today. In addition, in 2021 13% of adults said that they find online advertising entertaining, but this has grown to 22% today.
And it is not unusual for consumers to simultaneously hold multiple views on giving away data for online advertising that may – superficially at least – seem contradictory.
For example, 19% of those who say they are worried that any personal information they enter online will not remain secure also agree that they don’t mind sharing personal data in order to get more personalised TV ads – only just below the figure of 20% among all adults.
Similarly, 23% of this same cohort who are worried about their personal information online not remaining secure say they find online advertising entertaining – a higher proportion than for the adult population as a whole.
This points to personal information being used to serve ads not being the problem, but rather having that information used to serve ads that consumers feel are not relevant or not entertaining.
Acceptance of giving up personal information for personalised TV ads varies widely among users of brands in the TV and video space
This group of consumers who don’t mind sharing personal data in order to get more personalised TV ads will be of particular interest to brands involved in serving ads to consumers via TV and video. TGI reveals some big differences in engagement with this attitude among brands in this space.
For example, when it comes to TV set brands, those who have a Sky Glass TV are 26% more likely than the average adult to agree, whilst those with a Toshiba set are 35% less likely than the average to agree.
There are also differences in agreement among the online TV and video subscription giants. For example, those who have a Netflix ad-supported subscription are no more likely than the average adult to agree with this statement, whilst those with an Apple TV+ ‘with ads’ subscription are 42% more likely to agree, as well as 49% more likely to say they find online advertising entertaining.
Among free TV broadcasters there are also differences. For example, heavy viewers of ITV1 are 69% more likely than the average to be willing to share personal info for personalised TV ads.
At TGI we have a number of privacy-safe connected solutions that facilitate effective targeting of consumer audiences online, including our TGI Connected Audiences. To discover more, please get in touch.