Predictive Marketing

Chapter 17Privacy and the Difference Between Delightful and Invasive

This is the time to focus on the customer, and build a valuable brand and personal competitive advantage in the process. However, never forget that you are dealing with customer data, and inevitably there will be privacy concerns that arise. Marketers today are struggling to walk the line between privacy and personalization, not realizing that these goals do not have to be mutually exclusive.

In general, consumers are willing to share preference information in exchange for apparent benefits, such as convenience, from using personalized products and services. A research paper titled “Personalization versus Privacy: An Empirical Examination of the Online Consumer's Dilemma” by the Marshall School of Business found evidence that online consumers' intention to use personalization services (and hence their willingness to share information) is positively correlated with factors that build trust in the vendor offering personalization services. These findings would argue that online vendors that seek to benefit from their personalization strategies should not only be mindful of their consumers' privacy concerns but should also uncover ways through which they can build trust. In fact, the relative reputation of online vendors is one reason why consumers prefer to use personalization from one vendor while ignoring another, even if the services are virtually undifferentiated. Two important factors known to build trust ...