Can We Find Any Benefits to Consumer Profiling

1801 Words4 Pages

Consumer Profiling
More now than ever, consumers are giving up personal information in the daily pursuit of life. Stoping at the store to buy a few items, utilizing a credit card, debit card, or rewards card for the transaction and it immediately downloads data for analysis and profiling. The use of technology and the internet means enduring the targeted e-mail or pop-up ad that is sent in hopes we like the customized information enough to venture to the website and take a look. The information for these pop-up ads were generated from your previous internet browsing through a covert application that tracks your internet surfing and any information you provide to sites you wish to peruse. The gathering of this data is wrong and exposes us to risks of personal loss like identity theft or inaccuracies in personal information and characteristics. These inaccuracies can cause long term damage in many cases.
Information is gathered through many consumer profiling methods. “One technique called Electronic Customer Relationship Management (e-CRM) is the integration of web channels to create a streamlined and seamless customer experience, meant to create customer satisfaction, loyalty and business revenues” (Glossary). This e-CRM is meant to give the business the ability to identify customers their initial needs and recommend products and services that match a specified profile. For you this means you get a more efficient and more productive business or customer service department managing your needs.
Here is a great example.
“SCOTT HUGHES, an up-and-coming small-business owner and Facebook denizen, is Acxiom’s ideal consumer. Indeed, it created him.
Mr. Hughes is a fictional character who appeared in an Acxiom investor presentation in ...

... middle of paper ...

... Sarah. http://www.fastcompany.com/3019847/think-you-can-live-offline-without-being-tracked-heres-what-it-takes. 27 10 2013. website. 7 4 2014.
Reynolds, George W. "Ethics in Information Technology Third Edition." Reynolds, George W. Ethics in Information Technology Third Edition. Boston: Cengage Learning; 3 Edition (October 26, 2009), October. 132-144. Book.
Selyukh, Alina. http://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/features/2014/02/24/320809.htm. 24 2 2014. website. 14 4 2014.
Singer, Natasha. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/technology/acxiom-the-quiet-giant-of-consumer-database-marketing.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0. 16 6 2012. website. 14 4 2014.
Stroup, Jake. http://idtheft.about.com/od/preventionpractices/a/Reading-A-Privacy-Policy.htm. n.d. website. 14 4 2014.
Weisbaum, Herb. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42239031/ns/business-consumer_news/. n.d. website. 7 4 2014.

Open Document