Lack of trust in companies is a primary reason why many companies would have to shut their shop. Factors like customer trust, customer identification and customer commitment plays crucial role in building corporate reputation and customer purchase intention. So, how can companies can win customer trust?

New research done by Compass (News - Alert) Intelligence for identity data platform provider UnboundID, “Valuing Identity in Today’s Digital World,” says that capturing informed user consent is key to unlocking customer trust.

The study, which included over one thousand digital-savvy adults in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, was presented at the Gartner (News - Alert) Catalyst Conference. It offers insight into the value of a consumer’s digital identity. It is based on surveys that allowed consumers to place a value of their digital identity data, and they rated the value of information shared on social media sites such as Facebook (News - Alert) and Google+ between $62.79 to $106.40.

The results showed that using real identity data increases a consumer’s profile value by up to 100 times when compared to aggregated, anonymous data. Real identity data is valued in the hundreds of dollars (up to $124 per identity) as compared to pennies on the dollar for aggregated, anonymous data.

Commenting on the findings, Kneko Burney, Founder and Chief Strategist at Compass Intelligence said, “Getting that data out of the silos within their companies and really defining the value of the identity data gives them an advantage over their competition.”

Andy Land (News - Alert), Vice President of Marketing at UnboundID said, “There’s great value for corporations who choose to properly use digital identity data to market to individuals, not segments, consumers already know that companies use their data – the key is to use their data to create a better experience for the consumer. Tying multi-source data together with user consent creates a comprehensive identity profile, resulting in enhanced, more personalized marketing to the end user.”

Our digital identities are valuable. In fact, as the study highlights, they are a lot more valuable than one might think, and how and who gets to leverage that value going forward, i.e., users versus those seeking to use the information for targeted marketing, is going to be a trend to watch going forward.