About 3 in 4 adults in the US agree that they don't have enough control over how companies use their data. With that in mind, it's not too surprising that by a more than 2:1 margin, consumers believe that ads from brands they don't recognize targeting them based on their geographic location is creepy rather than cool. That's according to research from Marigold, which explored consumer attitudes to brand interactions.
Some 55% of consumers surveyed in the US, UK and France report that ads from brands they don't recognize targeting them based on their location is "creepy" to them, compared to 26% who feel that this is "cool." (The remainder didn't have an opinion.)
Likewise, consumers are twice as likely to feel that displaying ads based on indirect tracking tools, like third-party cookies, is creepy (53%) than cool (26%).
In both instances, attitudes against these practices appear to have hardened since last year. Last year's report (which included a wider sample geographically) did not include a "no opinion" option and only allowed respondents to choose "creepy" or "cool." However, the results did not show a 2:1 margin in favor of creepiness of these habits, though the gap was still significant.
Meanwhile, sticking with the location theme, this year's report again finds that emails highlighting a specific visited location - such as a department store or brand location - are more likely to be considered creepy (50%) than cool (35%).
Past research has shown that advertising has been one of the most common uses of location data by brands.
There are some brand interactions that are seen more favorably by consumers. Personalized birthday offers don't raise any eyebrows (80% cool; 9% creepy), and consumers are also overwhelmingly fine with brands recommending them products that align with their past purchases (73% cool; 12% creepy).
Most consumers are also happy to receive email reminders about items they left in their online shopping cart (57% cool; 20% creepy) and brand messages that are interest-specific (52% cool; 29% creepy). However, brands must be careful to toe a fine line when it comes to offering promotions tailored to consumers' activity within 2 minutes of visiting their website or app, as opinions are more split on this practice. Some 45% of respondents find this to be creepy, almost matched by the 40% who find it creepy.
Separate research from YouGov indicates that the majority (54%) of adults surveyed in the US agree to some extent with the statement: "Personalized advertisements creep me out."
For more, check out the Marigold report here and the YouGov report here.
About the Data: The results are based on a survey conducted in July and August 2024 among 21,700 adults (18+) in the US (47% share), UK (31%) and France (21%).