Framtidens digitala konsument: En kvalitativ studie om konsumenternas attitydformering till personuppgifter och företags arbete med individanpassad marknadsföring

Sammanfattning: This study aims to create a deeper understanding of consumer attitudes regarding personalized marketing and companies collection and analysis of personal data. It also aims to contribute to a broader knowledge about the opportunities and challenges companies can face if consumer change their behavior if more control is given to them regarding their personal data. By working with relationship and personalized marketing, companies can communicate to the individual customer and meet their needs, in turn, the goal is to create customer loyalty and make sure that the consumer return to the company. With a qualitative research approach, 12 interviews have been conducted with consumers between the ages of 18-29 years to collect empirical material that has then been analyzed based on relevant theories in consumer behavior as well as relational and personalized marketing. The result shows a widespread ignorance of how companies work with personal data. Consumers showed positive attitudes towards relevant personalized marketing. At the same time, they had a negative attitude towards companies collecting and analyzing their personal data. The negative attitudes can be explained by a fear of the unknown as well as the feeling of reduced control over their personal data and hence a threat to their personal integrity. In the end, consumers favored reducing the sharing of their personal data and in return obtain less personalized marketing, so a behavioral change is possible. the main challenges facing companies are to create loyalty and trust among consumers. Within the strategic communication field of research, this knowledge can be seen as valuable as a possible behavioral change may change the way communicators must think about digital communication and what consumers expect from marketing.