Survey Says: Why Consumers Have Commitment Issues

We're learning it's far too easy to alienate online shoppers. How? By making them jump through hoops to register or sign in on your website. Unless you want to be left behind by the "cool kid" businesses that are rapidly adding mobile to their marketing mix, you better get cracking. Here's a closer look at some of the latest small-business surveys.

Sign-In Is a Turnoff

Do you start hurling profanities at your computer when you get to a website and have to register to do, well, just about anything? I know I do, and apparently I'm not alone. Most (75 percent) consumers dislike being asked to register on websites and will change their behavior as a result, according to Consumer Perceptions of Online Registration and Social Sign-In. The study by Janrain, was conducted by Blue Research during the holiday shopping season. (Ironically, if you want to see the full report, you have to sign in -- but it's a quick one.)

What do consumers do when they're asked to register? Seventy-six percent give false information or leave forms incomplete, 54 percent leave the site and 17 percent go to a different site (that might be your competitors!). It's not just registration that gets customers' goats. Some 45 percent admit they have left a website if they forgot their password or login info, rather than deal with security questions or choose a new password.

The good news? There's a simple solution: 66 percent prefer social sign-in (signing into a site using an existing online identity from Facebook, Google or Twitter).

Going Mobile

A whopping 88 percent of marketers plan to use mobile marketing this year, according to a new ANA Mobile Marketing Survey from the Association of National Advertisers and the Mobile Marketing Association. That's up -- way up -- from the 62 percent of marketers using mobile last year. The five most popular mobile marketing efforts are:

• Mobile websites

• Mobile apps

• Mobile messaging/SMS

• Mobile display ads

• Mobile search

Not quite sure what you're doing with mobile? That's OK, you're not alone. Just 25 percent of marketers said their mobile efforts have been "extremely" or "very successful," while 53 percent said their mobile efforts have been only "somewhat successful."

So, while it seems like you have some time to get it right, now's the time to start figuring out how.

Young Entrepreneurs Need More Support

Younger Americans have a strong interest in starting small businesses, but are they getting the support they need? Not according to the Youth Entrepreneurship survey, conducted by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) in partnership with Buzz Marketing Group and LegalZoom. The survey of 16- to 39-year-olds (63 percent of them college graduates) found that an overwhelming 79 percent were interested in entrepreneurship and 27 percent had already started their own businesses. Even those with "regular" jobs were gearing up -- 35 percent had side businesses and 18 percent intend to quit this year to pursue entrepreneurship.

Sounds great, right? Well, not so fast -- 89 percent of the self-employed business owners don't believe they get enough support from the government and 67 percent say they there's not enough financial support from banks. Additionally, 73 percent say they didn't have the option to take entrepreneurship courses in college. On the other hand, those who did have that option thought the classes were ineffective. Entrepreneurship education and youth entrepreneurship are causes close to my heart -- we need to do something to resolve this situation soon. I'm headed to a youth entrepreneurship summit this week -- hopefully, I'll be able to report back with better news.

Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a content and consulting company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Follow Rieva at Twitter.com/Rieva and visit SmallBizDaily.com to sign up for her free TrendCast reports.