Study Demonstrates More Than One In Three Purchasing Decisions Are

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Report examines attitudes and concerns of consumers regarding privacy-related issues.

More than one in three consumer purchasing decisions are impacted by concerns over privacy, according to new data released by global law firm Morrison & Foerster. “Morrison & Foerster Insights: Consumer Outlooks on Privacy” highlights the attitudes and concerns of consumers regarding multiple privacy-related issues, including data breaches, privacy policies, and the disclosure of personal information.

“We conducted this survey because we are committed to helping businesses better understand, and comply with, the rapidly changing privacy landscape,” explained Andrew Serwin, co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Global Privacy and Data Security Group. “The findings indicate that a significant percentage of the American people continue to be concerned about numerous facets of security.”

This is perhaps not startling, given the large number of high-profile data breaches last year across retail and healthcare in particular. Innovative Retail Technologies discussed the “Anatomy of a Retail Data Breach” in an infographic, which highlights the science of security.

The survey’s findings included:

• Privacy concerns impact consumers’ purchasing decisions, with 35 percent of respondents reporting that they have decided not to buy from a particular company in the past 12 months as a result of privacy concerns.
• A large number of consumers – 24 percent - concede that no business is perfect in safeguarding their information.
• Consumers who are better educated and higher earning tend to be more likely to stop buying from a business because of a data breach,  although more than one in five of all respondents reported that they stopped buying from a company as the result of a data breach. Comparatively, 333 percent of those with incomes over $100,000 and 28 percent of those with at least an undergraduate college education reported that they stop buying from a business after a data breach.
• Identity theft was cited as the chief privacy concern by the majority of consumers, with 52 percent naming identity theft as their largest concern.  The right to privacy came in second at 10 percent, followed by the 9 percent of respondents who reported that they trust the system.

The findings should underscore the importance of addressing proactive data security by retailers. Data breaches are costly not just in terms of the immediate damage caused by the compromised data, but also – and perhaps more dangerously so – in the longer-term impact on company reputation and loss of customer base.