Dive Brief:
-
Data breaches are discouraging consumers from returning to retailers that have been hacked, according to a survey conducted this month by CreditCards.com. 45% of consumers with credit or debit cards say they’ll “definitely” or “probably” refrain from holiday shopping at a retailer previously hit by a data breach, the survey found.
-
29% said they probably wouldn't shop at a compromised retailer, while 16% said they definitely wouldn’t. Some 48% say they’ll be using cash instead of cards to shop this season. Women and shoppers with young children are more likely to return to a retailer despite a breach; older consumers are less likely to.
-
The telephone survey of 865 adult U.S. consumers was conducted earlier this month by Princeton Survey Research Associates International.
Dive Insight:
People with less money, perhaps because they can’t afford data protection services of their own or maybe just because they feel the effects of a data breach more profoundly, are less likely to want to return to shop at a retailer that has been hacked, according to CreditCards.com. Wealthier consumers are also less likely to say that they’ll switch to cash, and that could hurt retailers, considering how lower- and middle-income Americans are already being careful with their money.
Still, some consumers who are initially appalled at data breaches will often drift back to shop at the affected retailers, according to David Just, Cornell University professor of applied economics management.
"I'm guessing a lot of people have the initial emotional reaction of, 'Wow, I don't want to shop there anymore if they're going to be that loose with that data,'" he says. "Your initial response is fear. You feel like you've been violated. You don't know what's going to happen to your credit."
