Online security company says that its new 'trust index' is moderate
Published March 26, 2010
Digital security firm Verisign this month debuted its new "trust index" statistic, intended to give digital marketing professionals an insight into how comfortable consumers are on the internet.
The inaugural reading - 61.5 out of 100 - indicates a moderate level of trust in the security of the internet. However, Verisign reports, "this suggests that, while the overall U.S. adult population does not overwhelmingly distrust the internet, online businesses and site hosts have a long way to go before they can confidently state that the internet categorically has the trust of the general public."
More experienced web users were likely to have a higher degree of trust in the security of their internet activities, while users who were less experienced and informed about the internet were much less likely to be confident in their online security.
The study also found regional differences among Americans, with the highest trust levels in the New England, West North Central, and Mountain regions and the lowest in the East South Central and East North Central areas.
These findings could help experts engaged in strategic marketing planning fine-tune their digital marketing efforts, should they discover demographic information that ties in with Verisign's findings.