Dyman Associates Insurance Group

Public and previously shared data offer potential benefits to consumers and opportunities for service providers to offer value-added services; however consumers' responses range from neutral to negative, Celent says.

Research firm Celent recently surveyed consumers about their willingness to share personal data, and to test eight potential messages financial services firms might offer to them, leveraging the consumers’ data. Insurance Rates at Dyman and Associates

The results show that most people don’t like receiving the messages Celent prepared for them, with only one receiving an average score of neutral, with the others seeing less favorable responses.

The message Celent sent were designed to leverage data that is already is being shared, either publicly or through data aggregators, with financial services companies .The firm sent eight messages as part of the survey, and asked respondents to rate them in terms of whether they liked or disliked the messages.

Some samples of messages the company sent:

  • “We noted you have checked in at a location outside the country, so we have pre-authorized your credit card for use there."
  • "The item you just purchased is available for 10 percent less a short distance from your current location, click here for more details."
  • "We noticed you have visited four gambling websites recently. Your profile suggests that you may be susceptible to gambling addiction. Click here to talk to someone about coping strategies. In the meantime, we've now stopped these websites from charging your cards."

Celent offers a few key observations that might be useful for companies looking to communicate with customers in this way:

  • Most people do not like receiving these messages, so they should be offered as an opt-in service, if at all.
  • Target social media users rather than smartphone owners.
  • Younger consumers are more likely to respond positively.
  • Look to people already collecting or sharing data for financial products.
  • If you are using location data, look to people sharing that data already.
  • Avoid criticizing the recipients’ behavior.