‘Control Shift’ is a global trends report by The Innovation Group at J. Walter Thompson that unpacks the relationship between personal control, digital innovation and consumer engagement.

The report explores how consumers are embracing the automated future. Exchanging data for utility, they are delegating an increasing amount of control over their lives to technology. Pioneering brands can harness smart technology to capitalize on this opportunity, delivering helpful solutions and fostering consumer empowerment. Nevertheless, consumer anxiety around data privacy points to the need for brands to firmly establish a position of trust before they can successfully negotiate consumers’ control boundaries and nurture engagement.

Surveying 4,807 respondents in the UK, USA, China, Brazil, India, South Korea, Philippines and Turkey, ‘Control Shift’ presents quantitative analysis, statistical forecasts, a customer segmentation, expert interviews, in-depth social listening, and international case studies in categories including Health, Finance, Retail, Food & Beverage, Entertainment & Leisure, and Travel.

Original data highlights include:

• 53% of global millennials would be willing to hand over some decision-making to an automated system
• 73% of global respondents say “Technology puts me in control”
• 92% of Britons and Americans would like more control over who can access their data and what they do with it
• In the UK and US, consumers care more about brands’ management of their personal data than price
• JWT Analytics forecasts that more than half the world will be concerned about the internet eroding their personal privacy by 2018

Key Take Outs

1. Understand how the Control Shift operates for your brand. Manage the tension between automated services and customer privacy, and deliver the right amount of control at the right time to suit consumers’ needs.
2. Consumers are looking for support in managing the control burden— brands should cultivate roles as experts, delivering tailored solutions.
3. People love to choose, but too much choice can be a burden—consider how your brand might cleverly use data to help to simplify choice for customers.
4. Consumers will sit along a spectrum of control. Some people will always want control over the final decision or purchase—others will be happy for choices to be made for them. What’s important is to allow each individual to set their control parameters and the terms on which they are prepared to engage—and allow them to opt in and out whenever they decide.

To find out more contact Mat Cunnell at J. Walter Thompson