Companies have been struggling with the dilemma of how to deal with online user accounts for some time now. The question of whether or not to offer a social login is particularly important to our customers. Is such a social login valuable to the consumer? Is the consumer even interested in it? Time for a study to answer this question.
It has been more than three years since Hyves announced that all Hyvers could use their account as OpenID to list to data log in to other website(s). In the meantime, many different websites and apps use a social login button such as 'Log in with Facebook' or 'Login with Twitter'.
More and more websites and apps are using a social login, companies such as 'Pinterest', 'Airnbnb' and 'Vakantieveilingen' even primarily offer the social login.
The popularity of this login method is of course not without reason. After all, a social login has many advantages: for example, the consumer is freed from his large number of passwords and the company receives valuable additional data about the customer. The login procedure for the consumer is also very easy and fast; with one click of a button you are in.
But do the advantages outweigh possible disadvantages such as the loss of control over the information you provide? And does the choice for social versus traditional perhaps depend on the subject of a website or app? It could be that someone is less likely to use a social login for a sensitive subject than when buying a new pair of pants. Since no research has been done on this at the moment, we thought it would be a good idea to ask the user themselves.