Consumer Market Study on Online Market Segmentation Through
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Consumer market study on online market segmentation through personalised pricing/offers in the European Union Request for Specific Services 2016 85 02 for the implementation of Framework Contract EAHC/2013/CP/04 Final report Ipsos – London Economics – Deloitte consortium June 2018 Justice and Consumers Consumer market study on online market segmentation through personalised pricing/offers in the European Union EUROPEAN COMMISSION Produced by Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (Chafea) on behalf of Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers Unit 03 – Economic Analysis & Evaluation Contact: Konstantinos Zisis E-mail: [email protected] European Commission B-1000 Brussels 2 EUROPEAN COMMISSION Consumer market study on online market segmentation through personalised pricing/offers in the European Union Request for Specific Services 2016 85 02 for the implementation of Framework Contract EAHC/2013/CP/04 Final report 2018 3 Consumer market study on online market segmentation through personalised pricing/offers in the European Union Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may charge you). Find out which disclaimer you need : http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/communication/services/visual_identity/pdf/guidelines-studies-publications-by- external-organisations_en.pdf This report was produced under the EU Consumer Programme (2014-2020) in the frame of a service contract with the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (Chafea) acting under the mandate from the European Commission. The content of this report represents the views of the contractor and is its sole responsibility; it can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or Chafea or other body of the European Union. The European Commission and/or Chafea do not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this report, nor do they accept responsibility for any use made by third parties thereof. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018 PDF/Volume_01 ISBN 978-92-9200-929-8 doi: 10.2818/990439 EB-04-18-559-EN-N © European Union, 2018 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 4 Consumer market study on online market segmentation through personalised pricing/offers in the European Union TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. 13 1. BACKGROUND, INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES .................................... 13 1.1. Objectives and scope of the study ................................................................. 15 1.2. Main tasks and methodologies used ............................................................... 16 1.3. Structure of the report ................................................................................. 29 1.4. Terminology ............................................................................................... 30 2. ONLINE PERSONALISATION PRACTICES: AN INTRODUCTION..................................... 33 2.1. Features of online commerce that enable personalisation ................................. 33 2.2. Targeted advertising .................................................................................... 34 2.3. Personalised ranking of offers ....................................................................... 41 2.4. Personalised pricing ..................................................................................... 43 3. ONLINE SELLERS: TYPE OF PERSONAL DATA COLLECTED, TRANSPARENCY IN COMMUNICATION AND COMPLIANCE WITH RELEVANT EU AND NATIONAL LEGISLATION ....................................................................................................... 47 3.1. Type of personal data collected for online personalisation and means of collecting such data ..................................................................................... 48 3.2. The overall data market ecosystem and whether companies transmit the data used for personalisation purposes.................................................................. 67 3.3. The transparency of online firms using personalisation techniques about data collection methods and subsequent use of consumers’ personal data and their compliance with existing EU legislations ......................................................... 86 3.4. Future evolution of personalisation practices in the online market as a result of technological advances ............................................................................. 96 3.5. Summary of results – Online sellers: the data ecosystem, type of personal data collected, transparency in communication and compliance with relevant EU and national legislation............................................................................ 98 4. CONSUMERS’ AWARENESS AND PERCEPTION OF PERSONALISED PRICING/OFFERS AND PROBLEMS REPORTED ................................................................................. 102 4.1. Awareness of personalised practices ............................................................ 102 4.2. Perceived benefits of personalised practices .................................................. 124 4.3. Concerns with respect to personalised practices ............................................ 130 4.4. Reported experiences with personalised practices .......................................... 136 4.5. Complaints about online personalised practices ............................................. 141 4.6. Consumer’s overall opinions on personalised practices: findings from the consumer survey ....................................................................................... 144 4.7. Feelings regarding personalised practices: findings from the behavioural experiment ............................................................................................... 149 4.8. Usage of tools to prevent online personalisation and online behaviour .............. 158 4.9. Knowledge about and experiences with cookies ............................................. 161 4.10. Summary of results – Consumers’ awareness and perception of personalised pricing/offers and problems reported ........................................................... 167 5. RESEARCH ON THE INCIDENCE AND MAGNITUDE OF ONLINE PERSONALISED PRICING/OFFERS ............................................................................................... 171 5.1. Personalised practices encountered by mystery shoppers ............................... 171 5.2. Perceived incidence of personalised practices ................................................ 213 5.3. Findings from the stakeholder survey on the incidence of personalised practices .................................................................................................. 217 5 Consumer market study on online market segmentation through personalised pricing/offers in the European Union 5.4. Summary of results – Research on the incidence and magnitude of online personalised pricing/offers .......................................................................... 219 6. INFLUENCE OF PERSONALISED PRICING/OFFERS ON CONSUMERS’ DECISIONS AND REMEDIES ......................................................................................................... 221 6.1. Brief summary of the experimental conditions ............................................... 221 6.2. Decisions taken by participants in the behavioural experiment ........................ 221 6.3. Participants’ feelings regarding personalisation practices in real life and how this would impact their behaviour ................................................................ 239 6.4. Summary of results on the influence of personalised pricing/offers on consumers’ decisions and remedies ............................................................. 247 7. ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF ONLINE PERSONALISATION ON CONSUMERS AND SELLERS ........................................................................................................................ 249 7.1. Possible impacts of online personalisation on welfare allocation between sellers and consumers................................................................................ 249 8. CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY APPROACHES ............................................................. 258 8.1. Key findings of the study ............................................................................ 258 8.2. Policy approaches ...................................................................................... 269 FIGURES Figure 1 : Product selection screen: Personalised Ranking of Offers scenario (based on previous search), Low transparency ....................................................................................... 25 Figure 2 : Product selection screen: Personalised Ranking of Offers scenario (based on previous search), Higher transparency treatments ................................................................... 26 Figure 3 : Product selection screen: Personalised Ranking of Offers scenario (based on previous search), Low transparency treatment ........................................................................ 27 Figure 4 : Product