Hello,

I need three responses of at least 150 words each for the below students discussions for this week. Also in the bold below are the questions the students at answering.

Do you believe that consumers on the whole receive more benefit than risk from marketers knowing their personal information? Why or why not?

Student one:

Technology has revolutionized how marketers approach their customers by making it easier to gather personal information about their clients Today, companies easily harvest a customer’s personal information including their purchase history, age, gender, educational qualifications, job, hobbies and so much more to build a profile on what the customer wants on needs. Marketer’s gather personal information through online surveys, track a customer’s visits to the website through cookies or could buy personal data from brokers (MacMillan, 2019). In addition, marketers use the data to generate customer profiles to send penalized advertisements and promotions on new products and offerings, or review a customer’s interaction with the company to hasten the marketing process.

Indeed, marketer’s having personal information on their customer’s preference and behavior helps a company to better understand what the customer want and use targeted marketing techniques to reach the audience faster and more efficiently. The customer will also benefit from having first-hand information on new products, offers and purchase plans specifically built for them (Mazurek & Małagocka, 2019). For instance, a marketer can easily sieve through the customer’s database to determine which customers to recruit into a rewards program based on their purchasing history and interaction with the company.

However, there are potent risks with unscrupulous marketers holding sensitive personal information about clients including identity theft that may occur in the online purchase platforms. These inherent risks often outweigh the benefits of giving out personal information to marketers. Moreover, the financial and emotional loss that a customer could incur if their personal information falls into the wrong hands outweighs the benefits that marketers provide. In addition to identity theft, a customer may fall victim to financial fraud by issuing their sensitive personal information such as banking and credit card information to marketers. The risks associated with providing personal information to marketers may led customers to falsify such information (Punj, 2017).

In conclusion, customer personal information is one of the most sought after data by both genuine and unscrupulous marketers who willing to pay huge sums of money to buy it (Lim et al., 2018). However, a customer who gives personal information to an unscrupulous marketer may not have ultimate control over how their information is used by a third party and could fall victim to fraud or identity theft. More worryingly, a security breach in the marketer’s database could see a client’s personal information land in the wrong hands and they could fall victim to the different types of fraud and security threats online.

References

Lim, S., Woo, J., Lee, J., & Huh, S. (2018). Consumer valuation of personal information in the age of big data. Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, 69(1), 60–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23915

MacMillan, D. (2019). How to stop companies from selling your data. The Washington Post. Accesed 15 Jan, 2019 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/06/24/how-stop-companies-selling-your-data/

Mazurek, G., & Małagocka, K. (2019). What if you ask and they say yes? Consumers’ willingness to disclose personal data is stronger than you think. Business Horizons, 62(6), 751–759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2019.07.008

Punj, G. (2017). Consumer intentions to falsify personal information online: unethical or justifiable? Journal of Marketing Management, 33(15/16), 1402–1412. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2017.1348011

Student two:

For companies to establish a concrete list of variables when it pertains to certain products or brands, it can be vitally important to obtain personal information. Some companies ask more detailed information such as addresses, phone numbers, and date of birth to gather more refined information; even more startling in a research study named “What is the future of data sharing?” from across five different countries, consumers offered 75% of their personal information (Olenski, 2016). The study also found, even though the participants were informed of the data they would be sharing, still offered it knowing they would be compensated with a product or service they valued and brand that was attached that was trusted (Olenski). More consumers, 80% offered their information when they received special offers, data-enabled benefits, reward points or product recommendations. Interestingly, consumers were more convinced to share their information when the company explained how and why their information would be used to collect data; as well as, how it would help the consumers make better spending choices and protect themselves from fraudulent activity (Olenski). What does all of this have in common with consumer? The overall agreement, is trust. If consumers feel that they can trust the brand, company, and that they have their best interests at heart, and can obtain a tangible or intangible service or product for their time, consumers will be more willing to release their valued information. Netflix is one company that used data collected to offer a more valuable service or recommendations to their audience.

While certain age groups were not so willing to share their information, millennials were one that have already been comfortable and accustomed to the digital age, thus, allowing them to be more mindful of what is already available to them. Companies have the ability with the newfound information, to make better choices within the marketing confines, as well as, financially, product or service related, and that in a whole, as long as companies are securing information can lend to the overall bottom lines. On the other side, there are more than 10,000 companies that sell consumer personal information for the benefit of using the data to maximize profits, not the resources to safeguard consumers information (Petersson, 2018). Facebook was fined $1.63 billion for their breach of information, perhaps, other companies can learn from this lesson to safeguard people’s information to prevent hefty fines (Petersson). Finally, consumers will be more willing to offer their valuable information if they know that there are steps in place to safeguard them, are more inclined to free or discounted products or services, and know they can trust the agency they are assisting.

References

Olenski, S. (2016, April 18). For Consumers, Data Is A Matter Of Trust. Retrieved January 15, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2016/04/…

Petersson, D. (2018, October 31). What Companies Do With Your Personal Data And How Blockchain Protects It. Retrieved January 15, 2020, from

Student three:

Majority of the time consumers are sharing their personal information so they can stay informed by the company. Whether it is suggestions for products that would appeal to them or even sales and deals that are upcoming. If marketers can access a consumer’s history such as shopping history, their preferences, etc. then the consumer will have the benefit because they are getting the best experience. Certain websites that I have shopped on can give information just based off previous purchase history. One site I can think of that does things like this are some of the bookstore websites I visit. They like to recommend things that are like my purchases. Even Google has set up their email inbox to split into 3 main categories. The main inbox, social, and promotions. Many emails that are meant for marketing go into the promotions inbox that way it is not overwhelming the main inbox.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) created the CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business. It has laws that regulates the emails and what is involved that commercial businesses can and cannot do. “…the CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t apply just to bulk email. It covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service, including email that promotes content on commercial websites” (CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business, n.d.). I feel there are both benefits and risks from marketers knowing consumers personal information. In some cases, marketing companies can give it to third party companies so they can reach out to the consumers.

Since we are in a technological era it has made sharing information to access certain products and services a normal part of life. For example, getting a new iPhone that requires signing in or creating an Apple account which gives them the ability to also send marketing materials. According to an article in Forbes millennials are more likely to share their information without thinking about the risks, and if they do think of the risks, they still end up sharing their information in the end (Olenski, 2016). In the end, I am a part of the millennial group, even if I am not a fan of being there at times, I know I tend to carelessly share my information with many different companies to get more information.

References

CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business. (n.d.). Retrieved from Federal Trade Commission: Protecting America’s Consumers: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/gu… Act: A Compliance Guide for Business

Olenski, S. (2016, April 18). For Consumers, Data Is A Matter Of Trust . Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2016/04/…