Would You Share Personal Data For Money? Survey Shows Most Would

Good news for all those Big Data marketing geeks.

A new survey reveals that 54 percent of customers worldwide are happy to share their personal data with companies so long as they receive some type of financial reward like a discount, coupon or money.

The research — conducted by multinational technology company Intel — polled 9,000 people from nine countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India and Mexico.

Related: 33 percent of companies ignore their online reviews

As a survey software company that specializes in data collection, we find the results of this research particularly interesting. It highlights the need to give customers something in exchange for their loyalty, data and time — a best-practice we’ve encouraged businesses that use our survey tool to follow.

The same principle applies when surveying your customers. If you expect them to engage with your brand by filling out your customer feedback survey, then you must be willing to offer them something in exchange. Research shows that survey response rates can be increased by up to 40 percent simply by including a gift, coupon or discount.

Another interesting finding of the Intel poll is that 92 percent of customers are concerned that their personal data could be hacked by cybercriminals. Given the choice to secure their smart devices, 54 percent chose fingerprints, 46 percent chose voice recognition software, and 42 percent chose eye scans.

Related: Do big companies even look at customer feedback?

Concerns about internet and data privacy have mounted in recent years as the public has become more aware of the specific technologies used by companies to protect personal data, and on the flip side, how those technologies can be compromised. For this reason, it is particularly important for businesses to show that they value the risk customers take for sharing their personal data by offering customers a monetary reward.

It’s a small price to pay to get the data you need to improve your products and make your company grow. And if you structure your business model appropriately, the financial rewards you gain from customer data should far outweigh the costs associated with collecting it.