Identity Guarantees May Increase Site Use, Study Says

Consumers expect online businesses to be able to verify identities online, and about five out of six consumers said they would be more likely to use websites that have a “seal of approval” indicating they verify identities of all users, according to recent findings by Zogby Analytics and identity technology company Mitek.

The data in the online survey of 1,176 people also highlighted why most consumers are understandably wary of the perils of online identities: 72% have either been deceived by someone online or feel like it will soon happen to them. That feeling of inevitability may be warranted, too: about one in five people (19%) in the survey said they had either maintained an anonymous online profile or pretended to be someone else online.

“Consumers are cautious when it comes to online interactions,” Mitek COO Kalle Marsal said. “Companies have to work harder to build trust, loyalty and a good reputation with their customers, especially in digital channels. With the volume of online transactions and communications continuing to grow, consumers will proactively seek out businesses they can trust. Because of this, identity verification is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have.”

Consumers also said they’re willing to tolerate a limited amount of friction online in order to get more assurances that the people they do business with are who they say they are, the study reported.

“For all the concern about digital identity verification, virtually all (94%) of those surveyed said the convenience of completing their transition online, without having to mail in anything or go to a location in-person is important, and 62% say it’s very important,” it reported. “Yet today, many identity verification processes ask consumers to leave the digital channel to verify identity. With an unwavering desire to share, buy, sell, and communicate on the digital channel, consumers expect organizations do more to establish trust when asking to share personal information online.

Concerns about finding help may be fueling much of the skepticism about doing business online — 85% of the respondents said they were worried that if something goes wrong with an online transaction, they are on their own to take care of it.

Many consumers do fight back when they feel they’ve been wronged online, however. About half of the survey respondents (49%) said they stopped doing business with the offender, 44% said they left bad reviews or warned others about their experiences, 41% reached out to the website owner to complain and 15% contacted the Better Business Bureau or police.

“Consumers hold companies accountable; they take online fraud seriously and stop doing business when faced with deceit,” the study noted. “Not surprisingly, the survey found that trust is a top concern among today’s digital users, and virtually all users said that trust was essential for them to participate in online activities with people and businesses.”