Research on the Cultural Impact of CMP

Data on the impact of implementing the required CMP banners is still being acquired. However ExtraDigital has noticed an impact. Furthermore, we have noticed a difference in impact according to country or region of the world.

This is not surprising as earlier detailed academic study on the impact of cookie banners showed a difference in behaviour between US and UK or US and the EU.

Studies by Bornschein et al (2022) have shown that cultural factors can influence how people perceive privacy risks. In the context of cookies, seeing a cookie notice on a website increases the perception of risk to those from the EU, but less so for users in the US. One of many examples of different behaviour between regions of the world.

In addition, four experimental studies in the EU and United States explore the effects of information privacy practices. They find that offering choice over whether or which data are collected increases consumer power, whereas visibility of the notice (vs. no notice) only affects risk perceptions. The authors establish the novel suggestion that perceived risk is mitigated if consumers have more choice over their data (indirectly through greater power). Power and risk influence consumers’ affect and purchase intent.

Within the EU there are cultural differences as well; some countries – such as Germany are more risk advisers than others. These behaviours can significantly impact data from localised versions of websites.

ExtraDigital provides marketing for clients globally; we are noticing similar user behaviour with CMP banners as were seen with cookie banners – with cultural and regional differences impacting data. This has a major impact on PPC reporting – with a higher percentage of leads or sales being attributed to direct rather than paid channels.

For businesses operating across many countries, this needs to be considered when allocating marketing budgets.