Personalization & Privacy:

Flow of Information
L I S 3 2 0 1 R E S E A R C H & D ATA AN A LYS I S I N I N F O R M ATI O N
TECHNOLOGY

KRISTOPHER MANGAHAS
LAUREN PRINCE
B R A D L E Y P ATT E R S O N
ENDERLIN LEONCE
A N D R E V I L L AVI C E N C I O
Why is this important?
2

Personalized services gets too personal

Consumers also unknowingly
give up their ability to control
and steer their behaviors online.
Data tracking is inevitable
55% of people involved did not
feel that the information a store or business has on
that individual could be used to improve the services
provided for them (Draper, 2015).
Why we ask questions?
3

Companies dont normally disclose the actual handling of

consumer data.
Interested in hearing how informed
consumers are of these business practices.
Many consumers wish to be more
educated on these matters to make
more informed decisions
(Milne and Bahl, 2010) .
We seek to learn how much consumers know about the data
tracking that goes on.
Research Questions
4

Q1 - To what extent do consumers know about

companies collecting user information?
Q2 - To what extent do consumers know about how
companies use their information?
Q3 - What are ways that consumers can take to
control their information?
Q4 - Do individuals feel the trade off of information
is worth the convenience?
Our Methods
5

Survey and Interviews!

Surveys for a broad view of how much our participants knew
Interviews for more personal and detail information
Population:
18-22 year old college students at FSU
Sampling Methods:
Non-Random volunteer sampling / convenience sampling.
Allowed us to get a broad range of people, but allowed us to
How we did it?
6

Data Collection Process

Survey
We sent the survey to as many people as we could and asked
them to complete it at their convenience.
Interview
We went to busy areas around campus, namely the libraries
and the Student union to find possible volunteers.
Only took volunteers that willingly gave us their time.
Our participants
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Survey
55 Completed Surveys
31 Male
23 Female
1 Non-Binary
Freshmen to Graduate Students
Interview
8 Completed
5 Female
3 Male
Freshman to Seniors
So many different majors!
Character Animation
English
IT
Music
Research Question #1
8

To what extent do consumers know about

companies collecting user information?
Do consumers know about the different activities that
companies are willing to track?
Are consumers knowledgeable about companies monitoring
their online activity.
Used to get a broad view of how well people know about
companies collecting their information
Research Question 1
9

Survey
Q5. How well do you agree with this statement? I have complete control of my
information.
18.18% Agree, 45.45 Somewhat Agree
7.72 Neutral
10.91 Somewhat Disagree 12.73 Disagree

Q6. Do you believe your online activity is tracked?

Research Question 1
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Survey
Q7. Do you normally keep the location/gps feature on your phone
on?
42.59% - No
57.41% Yes
Interview
Are you familiar with any of the ways that companies can collect
information?
Take our searches
Buy our information
We give it to them, dont we?
I dont really know.
Research Question 2
11

To what extent do consumers know about how

companies use their information?
Survey
Q10 In your opinion what kind of information do you eel safe
about giving to companies? If none, say none.
Research Question 2
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Survey
Q16 Have you at any time benefited from any of these incentives?
Research Question 2
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Interview
Q7 Can you describe a time where you felt that you information was
being time?
Something I just searched was one of the ads I saw

I was on a website and then I suddenly received coupons for that

website
Facebook knows what I just viewed.

Q15 - In your opinion what are disadvantages of companies using

consumer personal information?
My Identity could be stolen
My information wouldnt be safe
Privacy Issues
A lot, I don't really know
Research Question 3
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What are ways that consumers can take to control

their information?
Survey
Q11 Are you part of any membership/rewards wit any online
or physical companies?
Research Question 3
15
Research Question 3
16

Interview
Q8 - Are you aware of any ways that you can personally have
more control over your information?
There is a correlation between people benefiting from
incentives given by companies and knowing ways to
personally have more control of their information.
Some choose to willingly give out information
Cost of convenience vs. safety of personal information
6/10 participants had responses of being unsure of ways to
control their information
Mhmm, Im not really sure to be honest or I have no clue.
Lack of knowledge
Research Question 4
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People are willing to give some

information in exchange for
certain benefits. Having a
membership usually requires
you to provide at a minimum a
Name and Email.
Research Question 4
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People are
comfortable
giving some
information to
companies,
however most do
not believe
companies should
have access to any
information that
was not given to
the company by
the customer.
Research Question 4
19

Most people said

that it would
depend when asked
if they would stop
their purchase if it
required them to
make an account.
However very few
said they would
actually stop if this
step was required.
Research Question 4
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From our gathered info we can infer that a majority

of willing exchange their information with
companies for certain benefits.
A perfect example of this is any membership program that
sends you personalized ads based on your purchase history.
People seem to be ok with giving a limited amount of
information to companies if they feel the trade off is
worth it.
Discussion/Implications
21

RQ1: To what extent do consumers know about the different ways companies
collect consumer information?
People know that they are being tracked and collected, however they still
think they have control over what is being collected. the main problem is
that they are unaware of the ways in which companies collect their
information.
Many consumers wish to be more educated on these matters to make
more informed decisions (Milne and Bahl, 2010) .
We found that large percentages of Americans often dont have the basic
knowledge to make informed cost-benefit choices about ways marketers
use their information. (Turow, Hennessey, & Draper, 2015)
RQ2: To what extent do consumers know about how companies use their information?
Consumers are generally unaware of how companies use their information.
Companies use consumer's information in many ways, but most commonly for
personalized ads to try and get consumers to buy certain products.
Discussion/Implications
22
RQ3: What are ways that consumers can take to control
their information?
Most of the consumers felt that the best way to take control of their
information was too be more informed.
Over 55% of Americans believe that discounts received by large
supermarkets is not an adequate tradeoff for companies to use the
information gathered from them to improve the services they provide
(Turow, Hennessy, & Draper, 2015).
RQ4: Do individuals feel the trade off of information is
worth the convenience?
Yes, most consumers feel that as long as they control the amount of
information given to the companies that the trade off is worth it.
Internet usage increases due to the efficiencies of new technological
developments and the greater provision of online commerce(Miyazaki &
Fernansez, 2001)
Our Conclusions
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We tend to agree with our consumers in that the

trade off of a little privacy is definitely worth the
convenience.
The best way to protect yourself is to simply be
informed and know what you are getting yourself
into.
Most people, while wanting their information safe,
still want to benefit from company incentives but
dont know how to control the flow of information.
Our Limitations
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Time Frame
The length of the semester was the deadline for our research.
Prevented us from doing more in-depth research and analysis
Our instruments
Methods in terms of instruments were mainly based around

convenience.
Many of the surveys were sent to friends or just random people we know.

Small sample size

When in reality this topic effects everyone we were only able to talk to
small number of people.
People of different ages might also change the results of our research.
Our Reflection
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The entire thing was just really interesting to go through.

To go through every step from the conception to the
analysis was engaging
Challenges
Getting people to participate
Creating the actual instruments
Thinking of how to tackle the topic
Lessons
Dont Procrastinate
Always have a plan
Ask friends
Have Fun