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Depending on how personal data is handled and how much trust consumers have in a company consumers are willing to provide substantial amounts of information about themselves to online marketers, according to study findings released by the Ponemon Institute of Tucson, AZ and the Boston-based interactive advertising firm Dotomi.

The level of trust consumers have a company correlates to the relevance of online communications directed to them. Eighty-four percent of consumers prefer have control over the types and frequency of advertising sent to them. About 64% of consumers said they would trust online marketers more if they had control over the types of online communications they receive.

Perception of how data will be used matters. Once a customer relationship is established, 89% of consumers would let a trusted marketer share information about their personal interests with a third party without asking permission, in order to increase the quality of services and products offered to them. However, consumers generally dislike the perception of their purchasing behavior being tracked for the purpose of influencing their future purchasing decisions, the study found.

About 82% of consumers said they want to be notified by online merchants offering incentives such as discounts or free offers. A larger number 92% said they want to be notified if a product or promotion would be of greater value to them based on past purchasing habits.

When consumers have a trusted relationship with a marketer, 22% are more willing to share banking information, 21% to share reading interests, 17% are willing to share information about their hobbies and 19% are willing to share data concerning special events or anniversaries.

Among the most frequency types of information shared are home and business telephone numbers, postal and e-mail addresses, date of birth, hobbies, mother's maiden name, marital status and clothing size.