PwC "Consumer Personal Data Protection is Most Important for Building Corporate Trust"

The majority of consumers identified personal data protection as the most important factor for companies to gain trust. As collecting and utilizing data directly from consumers to provide personalized services has emerged as a competitive advantage for companies, experts advised that companies need to establish strategies that simultaneously satisfy data protection and customer experience through data utilization.

Samil PwC announced on the 25th that it published the report titled “PwC Consumer Survey 2024: Six Challenges to Gaining Consumer Trust,” which includes these insights. This report was prepared based on survey results from over 20,000 consumers across 31 countries, including South Korea, covering various issues such as environmental protection, health concerns, data openness, value discovery in consumption, and acceptance of artificial intelligence (AI).

According to the report, 83% of respondents cited data protection as a key factor influencing corporate trustworthiness. This was followed by product and service quality (79%), employee treatment by companies (77%), and affordability of product prices (75%). Similar trends were observed in the survey results from Korean consumers.

The report stated, “Half of consumers responded that they are satisfied with their data being used for personalized services and experiences,” and advised, “If customers know that their data is being efficiently used to create better products, it will help strengthen corporate reputation.”

Furthermore, consumers participating in the survey expressed skepticism about the safety and reliability of social media, identifying social media as the least trusted industry sector. The report diagnosed, “Consumers increasingly use social media for purchasing, searching, and reviewing, but at the same time, they raise questions about its safety and reliability, holding complex feelings.”

Survey results showed that the proportion of consumers purchasing products directly through social media increased more than twofold from 21% in 2019 to 46% this year. Considering the growing influence of social media, the report suggested investing in marketing and advertising aimed at brand building rather than simple sales promotion.

Meanwhile, 85% of respondents said they have directly experienced the destructive effects of climate change in their daily lives, but only 45% answered that they take actions such as purchasing sustainable or climate-impact-reducing products to mitigate climate change. The report mentioned, “This gap provides an opportunity for companies to get closer to environmentally conscious consumers.” Additionally, global consumers expressed willingness to pay on average 9.7% more for products produced or supplied sustainably.

As a corporate action strategy to reinvent the eco-friendly foundation, the report advised, “Compliance with regulations such as CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) can contribute to profitability,” and emphasized the need to “build energy-intensive supply chains through technological innovation, enhance operational efficiency, and capture differentiation opportunities by offering valuable products to consumers.”

In addition, consumers identified inflation (64%) as the biggest risk or threat impacting them in the next 12 months, which was 20 percentage points higher than other threats such as economic slowdown, climate change, and health issues. Particularly in South Korea, similar to the global trend, inflation (62%) was the top concern, but the proportion worried about macroeconomic volatility (economic growth rate, unemployment rate, etc.) (49%) was higher than the global average (41%), drawing attention. The report evaluated this as “indicating a lower level of confidence in the Korean economy compared to other countries.”

Jung Nak-yeol, Leader (Partner) of the Consumer Industry Division at Samil PwC, said, “Through this report, we confirmed that the gap between the trust companies think they have and the trust consumers actually feel is widening,” and advised, “Companies need to step out of their own frameworks and understand how customers truly perceive them, and more opportunities will come to companies that prioritize the trust consumers think of.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.