Just 32% of Vietnamese consumers believe that, their personal data will be treated in a trustworthy manner by organizations offering digital services. While in the US, 20 percent of Americans suffer from security fatigue and don’t trust anyone to protect their personal data. As a result, some people feel they need to take matters into their own hands or at least work with organizations that give them a greater sense of control.
According to a study named “Understanding Consumer Trust in Digital Services in Asia Pacific” by Microsoft and IDC Asia Pacific, which aims to understand consumers’ expectations of trust, uncover their experiences with digital services, and provide tangible insights to organizations to help bridge the gap by learning about and sustaining the trust of consumers in the digital world.
The study said that, almost all transactions and interactions in Vietnam, from organizations and government agencies, to banks and retailers, are becoming digital. Vietnam News Agency reports.
At the same time, consumers are becoming more aware of cybersecurity risks and risks to privacy of their personal data, not just from cybercriminals but also from organizations holding on to their personal data.
“The upside for organizations with a trusted digital platform is tremendous as Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing digital services markets in Asia Pacific where almost all of the transactions and interactions here will be digital in the near future,” said the Country General Director of Microsoft Vietnam.
“However, despite consumers’ increasing reliance on digital services, there is still a considerable trust gap that needs to be addressed. Most consumers still do not perceive organizations to be trusted data stewards. I urge business leaders to do more to understand what drives consumer trust and focus on how they can build trust and make it a key competitive advantage for their digital services,” he added.
According to Vietnam News, the study surveyed 453 consumers in Vietnam and asked respondents to provide their opinions on the five elements of trust jointly defined by IDC and Microsoft – privacy, security, reliability, ethics, and compliance – when using digital services.
The study revealed that consumers feel that all five elements of trust are almost equally important to them.
Specifically, security (90 per cent) and privacy (89 per cent) emerged as the top two most important elements. Consumers also have the highest expectations of trust from financial services institutions, followed by government and education organizations.
The study also found that establishing a trusted platform needs to be a priority in organizations’ strategy for digital services as only 4 per cent of consumers prefer to transact with an organization that offers a cheaper but less trusted digital platform.
Additionally, close to three out of four or 72 per cent of consumers said they would recommend a trusted digital service to others even if the cost was higher.
Despite this, the study uncovered that the majority of consumers, about 60 per cent in Vietnam, have had their trust compromised when using digital services. The top three trust elements that caused consumers to stop using digital services were security, reliability and privacy.
More importantly, the study established that consumers will take action if they have a negative trust experience. Nearly three out of five of the respondents would switch to another organization, while 30 per cent would reduce the usage of the digital service. More than one out of four (28 per cent) consumers would stop using the digital service altogether, according to the report.