Consumers Are Buzzing About RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Tags).

Consumers are educating themselves about the pending RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags about to be implemented by major retailers across the country according to the new Consumer RFID Buzz survey conducted by BIGresearch and Artafact LLC.

Most simply, radio frequency identification (RFID) is the next generation of the UPC system of bar codes. RFID technology is distinguished from bar codes by the ability to be read at a distance and by the ability to uniquely identify each item. This raises privacy concerns for consumers.

“RFID Consumer Buzz is a new syndicated study to track, understand and publish consumer attitudes and opinions as RFID tags become a reality in 2005,” said Joe Pilotta, PhD, VP Research BIGresearch. “We were surprised in the first wave at how many people are already aware of RFID given the minimal consumer press, but we were not surprised at how concerned they are about the issue it raises around protecting their personal information.”

According the study fielded in September 2004, over one fourth of U.S. adults are already familiar with the term and can describe it to others. Nearly two thirds are “very concerned” or “somewhat” concerned about the potential for privacy abuse.

The majority of RFID aware adults learned about RFID through the Internet. This is not surprising given the minimal coverage by mainstream newspapers and consumer press.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has largely been a business issue covered by trade publications touting billions of dollars in savings by driving errors out of the supply chain. In fact, major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target are driving their suppliers to begin implementing RFID tags as early as January 2005.

“The results of this study demonstrate that retailers and major suppliers shouldn’t ignore consumer concerns,” said Linda Stegeman, President of Artafact. “They need to be proactive in educating consumers on the benefits to them of this major business initiative.”

To view finding CLICK below:

http://www.bigresearch.com/rfid.htm