Big data has been a buzzword in the marketing world for quite some time now, related to its impact on customer engagement, customer loyalty, and customer experience.
Big data, however, might not be as significant a factor on customer experience as marketers thought. Despite sharing more information with companies, only 25% of consumers feel that their overall customer experience has improved in the past 12 months due to increased use of personal data about them by the companies they typically buy goods and services from−according to an online survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults by Harris Poll on behalf of Transera Inc.
Here’s a summary of the findings from the survey:
44% of consumers feel that in the past 12 months they’ve received much/somewhat better relevant discounts, offers, and special deals by sharing more personal data with the companies they typically buy goods and services from
35% say they’ve received better product recommendations, while only 25% feel that they’re getting better online or phone customer support when buying a product or when they contact customer service and support.
The majority of consumers (67%) would be willing to give companies access to at least some of their personal information in exchange for better service or products; however, that’s primarily limited to basic information.
For example, 53% of consumers would be willing to provide their name, 35% would be willing to provide demographic information, and 34% are open to sharing contact information (phone number, address, email) in exchange for better, more personalized services/products.
Nearly half (49%) of consumers believe businesses that market to them have access to their online habits (e.g., web history, social media activity), while less than one in five (16%) consumers are willing to trade online privacy (i.e., their online habits) for a better customer experience.
Who do American consumers trust the least to use their data to the benefit of users? 50% of consumers called out social media companies.
“With so much focus on Big Data and data privacy lately, we wanted to see if consumers felt that they were directly benefiting from the increased collection and mining of customer data,” Rich Guth, SVP, Marketing, Transera said in a 
release. “The results show that at least a sizeable portion of consumers—25%—are indeed seeing some benefits, while the vast majority still isn’t. I see this as a call-to-action for brands to extract more value from Big Data in ways that can be directly experienced by their customers.”