#bigbrother #sometimesifeellikesomebodyswatchingme

Hi my name is Sonia Lewis and I am addicted to online shopping. Phew. Ok I said it out loud now we can all move on. Right?? Actually no. With every online purchase I’m bombarded with advertisements of brands that I love. That I CRAVE. If I buy a dress from Nordstrom.com, guess what almost immediately pops up on my Facebook feed? That’s right – an advertisement of dresses on sale at Nordstrom. And with every advertisement I spend an extra minute with that brand, and most likely an extra dollar – positively reinforcing companies’ drive to collect consumer data and use it to their advantage.

And will I ever see the end of wedding ads? I mean, DAMN. I have been married for three magical months, and have unsubscribed to all wedding newsletters. However, Facebook continues to advertise wedding photographers and videographers at every turn.

One major weakness of gathering personal information from online activity is that consumers are dynamic and our interests and life-stages are in constant motion. In my case, I’m no longer interested in wedding topics, but because some algorithm hasn’t updated, I’m stuck with outdated advertisements about weddings. I don’t want to think about what will happen when I’m shopping for my friends baby shower next month. Cue the baby advertisements. 

Admittedly it’s not all bad, but many times it is eerie. Customized ads and products can be helpful and save me time, but there is also the side of it that makes me want to scream. I’m a millennial and we don’t like our personal space to be invaded – no matter online or in-person. We invite companies in with open arms when it is our decision, yet hate it when some pushy third party shows up and starts talking to us about their product based on something we reported, or bought in the past.

In the WSJ article “They Know What You’re Shopping For,” many companies hid behind the claim that “none of this information is personally identifiable” to a specific person’s private information. They claimed that just because they matched your interests with similar companies, doesn’t mean that they can pick you out of a lineup. However, knowing a customer’s behavior is just as invasive as knowing their name, maybe even more so. Think about it – If someone is stalking you, do you care that they know your name or that they know you’ll be standing outside of McCombs at 1:15PM every Tuesday? Think about it. 

Additionally, even though surveillance makes it easier to understand customer’s wants online, if the information that was found online is then used offline it can take the genuine personal aspect out of selling. Diving into exactly what the consumer needs limits the ability to build rapport. It might help make a one-time sale, but can hinder the long term relationship.  Furthermore, analyzing online activity for marketing purposes makes two huge assumptions. 1) Assumes that people act like their true selves online, and 2) Assumes that there is not an underlying alter motivation to the fact that they are purchasing a certain item. Humans are complicated, and it is marketer’s job to understand the external and intrinsic factors that drive behavior. 

For example, a couple months ago I used my Banana Republic Visa credit card to make a purchase at Banana Republic. I had not used that card in several months, but they were offering an additional 30% off only to cardholders. How could I pass that up? So I bought a couple skirts and mentally reminded myself to pay the bill within the next 30 days. Since that credit card was no longer regularly used, I was no longer checking the balance due date and was a little worried I’d forget to pay the bill... And then I forgot to pay the bill. I did not notice until I received an email informing me of the late fee, and that I would be turned over to collectors if I didn’t pay immediately. I paid the bill at that very moment (kicking myself that the late fee counteracted the original savings), and thought that was the end of the matter. To my utter annoyance I started receiving text messages from “get cash now” type of services several times a day for the next month. The ONLY rational explanation was that Visa sold my information to a 3^rd party who then assumed I did not have money to pay my bills. WRONG.

From a professional standpoint, I am a firm believer that there should be a limit to how much data can be collected on an individual. I also think that there is a misconception that the more information you can collect, the better. This is a misconception because it implies that there are employees who know how to leverage the data to extract the most helpful information. When companies are collecting data, there should be calculated steps and understanding on what types of information would be most appropriate. 

There is also a responsibility for marketers to conspicuously inform consumers about their tracking devices and sharing information with third parties. Doing so might seem counter active to companies, but I think they will still get a good representation of how the market is behaving even when people opt out of certain terms. 

I have faith in the future of marketing and data collection, yet remain cautious to all apps that ask me to sign in with my Facebook account.