Consumers from the U.S. and Europe are the least likely to share data with brands

Only 52% of US shoppers are ready to share their email address with an e-commerce website, the research by SAP Hybris shows. Just 53% of the French and 55% of Germans will comply with requests for email addresses, compared with 68% of respondents from India, 66% from Korea, 62% from Russia and 60% from Canada.

The research found that people from India, Russia, and Canada are the most trusting and generous when it comes to sharing personal data with businesses. Beside email addresses, they are ready to show their shopping history and preferences The Americans (37%), French (37%) and Germans (20%) are the least likely to share all that.

The reasons are probably related to cultural differences as well as the media coverage of personal data and privacy issues. Most Asian and South American cultures imply sociability and transparency, and people are more willing to trade their email address for a lower price or a better bargain. Westerners, on the other hand, historically value privacy higher, and besides, read a lot about data abuse by advertisers, hackers, governments, and other actors.

Different data is valued by people unequally: even in India, only 52% of respondents are ready to give away their mobile number, and only 25% in the US.