Luxury Institute and DataLucent: Hotel Institute Montreux Student Survey Reveals Key Personal Data Sharing Attitudes of Non-U.S. Gen-Zs and Millennials vs U.S. Cohorts

NEW YORK, Aug. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In collaboration with Hotel Institute Montreux, a global leader in hospitality and business education, Luxury Institute and DataLucent recently surveyed the Montreux student body to understand their perceptions and attitudes about sharing their personal data with consumer goods and services brands. This initial survey is a test for upcoming surveys to be conducted by the Luxury Institute and DataLucent, a personal data exchange. The survey measures and ranks levels of trust that affluent and mainstream consumers report in sharing their personal data with specific brands across categories. The sample of 72 responders is comprised of 61% female and 39% male with 82% of the responders residing in Europe, 13% in Asia, 3% in Australia, and 1% in North America. With respect to age segments, 60% are 17-21, and 25% are 22-24.

"The privacy and protection of consumer data access are important to today's international consumer. Hotel Institute Montreux with its diverse and international student body, is proud to collaborate with the Luxury Institute and DataLucent in the further research and understanding of the concerns and values of Gen-Z and Millennial consumers, and how this impacts their expectations of a company," said Ulrika Björklund, Dean at Hotel Institute Montreux.

When asked about expectations of consumer brands that collect their data, the top five most important factors include: secure/protect my data from hackers (71%), do not sell my data to other parties (65%), ask for my consent before collecting data (61%), inform me how they are using the personal data for my benefit (61%), and make sure my data is always under my control (57%). The expectations of using their data for personalization (40%) and providing fair value rewards and incentives (33%) are emerging requirements for data sharing. These results may reflect the facts that privacy legislation such as GDPR in Europe, and growing enactment of legislation in Singapore, China, Australia and other Asian markets, have created a far more aware and educated young consumer from those regions.

With respect to their knowledge as to who owns their digital platform data (and legally they do), 38% of responders believe they own their data, 35% state that they and the platform co-own the data (only true for very small percentage of data), and 19% believe that the platform wholly owns the data. This is in contrast with a recent survey conducted at a top U.S. business school by DataLucent among students of similar demographics, where nearly 90% of students were unaware they own their digital platform data. Again, this may reflect the prevalence of privacy awareness and legislation in Europe and Asia.

When reassured that they would maintain control of their data, that it would be secured, remain under privacy compliance, and never sold or shared without permission, 61% of Montreux student responders would license their data to brands they trust. Another 21% would not license their data, even if they trust a brand, while 18% are unsure. This contrasts with almost 80% of U.S. business school responders who would license their data to brands they trust, as long as the data remains under their control. While there is lower awareness of personal data ownership in the U.S. vs Europe and Asia, once an individual becomes aware of the fact that they own their digital platform data, young U.S. consumers are far more willing to share it, but only under their control and with brands they trust.

When asked to express which digital platform data they would be most willing to share with consumer brands, 51% would share Instagram, 48% Facebook, 46% LinkedIn, 24% Google, 20% Apple, 12% Twitter and 7% Amazon data. Another 27% stated they would not share any data. Of those willing to share their data, many state that this data is already being shared with friends, and sharing it is unlikely to hurt them. Many responders feel they will benefit from sharing their data.

When provided an extensive list of industries, by category, with which they would share their data, Montreux student responders rank the industries as follows: Airlines (61%), Hotels/Resorts (56%), Travel Services (44%), Insurance (35%), Health/Fitness/Wellness (33%), Banks/Financial Services/Credit Cards (28%). Product categories such as beauty, fashion, jewelry, and others rank lower, but are still in double digits.

When asked which types of benefits and rewards they desire most in exchange for licensing their digital platform data to brands they trust, they seek the following: airline miles (61%), upgrades on travel bookings (47%), complimentary hotel room nights (44%), invitations to special events/experiences (39%), and special services during hotel/resort stays (37%). Free merchandise and products rank lower, with most in double digits. These responses may reflect the pent-up demand for travel during/post-COVID, yet it also points to an opportunity for brands that do not discount, such as luxury brands, to leverage relationships with travel brands, to partner and reward consumers with coveted luxury travel benefits in return for access to their social media data.

"As the right to consumer data access and portability becomes international, customers will recognize and value brands that handle their data openly and with integrity. Educating customers about their data rights - and about the benefits of safely sharing their data directly with brands they trust - will establish a new currency between companies and consumers that will build loyalty and dramatically increase mutual lifetime value," said Brad Davis, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at DataLucent.

In contrast to their category rankings, when asked to rate and rank which companies they would trust most to license their personal digital platform data using a list of top 100 global advertisers of 2020, Hotel Institute Montreux student responders cited Dior (35%), LVMH (30%), and Hermès (25%) as the top three, followed by Samsung (19%), Nike (18%), L'Oreal (16%) and Estee Lauder (16%), followed by Nestle (14%), Nintendo (14%) and Adidas (12%) to round out the top ten global companies. This demonstrates that young consumers are currently very conscious of which companies/brands they are willing to trust with their data. The survey also indicates a great opportunity for the most trusted brands to begin licensing critical data from consumers to build competitive advantage over less trusted competitors.

"As the pioneers and leaders in personal data innovation, Luxury Institute and DataLucent are empowering the legal, secure, privacy compliant, fair-value sharing of highly predictive digital platform data between consumer consumers and trusted brands. This survey, with explicit, never-before-asked questions, begins a journey in data sharing research that sheds a bright light on brand opportunities in this new, thriving industry. We are grateful to the Hotel Institute Montreux for their innovative collaboration," said Milton Pedraza, Chairman at DataLucent and Chief Executive Office at Luxury Institute.

About Luxury Institute

Luxury Institute is the world's most trusted research, training, and elite business solutions partner for luxury and premium goods and services brands. With the largest global network of luxury executives and experts, Luxury Institute has the ability to provide its clients with high-performance, leading-edge solutions developed by the best, most successful minds in the industry. Over the last 18 years, Luxury Institute has served over 1,100 luxury and premium goods and services brands. Luxury Institute has conducted more quantitative and qualitative research with affluent, wealthy and uber-wealthy consumers than any other entity. This knowledge has led to the development of its scientifically proven high-performance, emotional intelligence-based education system, Luxcelerate, that dramatically improves brand culture and financial performance. Luxury Institute has also innovated the Advanced Personalization Xchange (APX), powered by DataLucent, to empower affluent consumers to license their digital platform data to premium and luxury brands they trust legally, securely and privately in exchange for fair value rewards and benefits.

To learn more about Luxury Institute, please contact us at LuxuryInstitute.com

About DataLucent

DataLucent empowers consumers to access and share comprehensive, historical social media data with brands in return for rewards, benefits and personalization via a legal, ethical, secure, transparent and privacy-compliant process. DataLucent's patent-pending platform navigates consumers through the process of requesting, downloading and transferring personal data from Facebook, Twitter, Google and other consumer platforms, then provides real incentives for individuals to share data with companies they love and trust. DataLucent transforms and integrates data on behalf of consumers across networks to provide unparalleled customer and consumer insights to brands.

To learn more about DataLucent, please visit DataLucent.com

About Hotel Institute Montreux

As a member of the Swiss Education Group, Hotel Institute Montreux is a hospitality and business management school ranked amongst the top 10 in the world. Students learn the secrets of the hospitality world, acquire business insights from renowned industry leaders, and have the flexibility to tailor their education with unique specializations.

To learn more about Hotel Institute Montreux, please visit www.HotelInstituteMontreux.com

Contact - Milton Pedraza: [email protected] 

SOURCE Luxury Institute