Thursday, April 14, 2011
Privacy Concerns When Conducting Marketing Research
Observational research has become much more mainstream as companies often learn more by watching what customers do than what they say. However, this type of research also raises ethical questions about consumer privacy. Please read the article In Bid to Sway Sales, Cameras Track Shoppers from the NY Times. Do these observational techniques raise ethical questions for you as a marketer? Why do you feel this way? Post your thoughts to the blog no later than the beginning of class on Tuesday, April 19th.
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My personal opinion is that I honestly don't see any problem with what the stores are doing because they are trying to better the customers experiences and what better way to gain knowledge then keeping an eye on them as they shop with video cameras. But I would post notes at registers and the front doors saying that there are surveillance cameras in use. I guess I honestly feel this way because most stores you go into these days have a cameras up anyways and the majority of people realize that there are cameras.
ReplyDeleteWe, as consumers, are already being recorded and taped at most retail outlets. Mostly to discourage shoplifting and other illegal activities. Now the content of the recordings is being ananlyzed to help create a better shopping experience for the consumer and more profits for the retailer. It is a logical progression. I don't find anything unethical about recordings being used to help increase sales. I do think conspicuous signs should be posted at stores using cameras in this manner.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that they raise ethical questions because most people know they are on camera in a store. When I walk into a store, I know that there are security cameras all around the store. I think that this is something that is being used properly, like to lower the level of shelves. If the researchers use the videos in the right way, I believe that it when in turn benefit us as shoppers.
ReplyDeleteEver since I can remember there have been cameras every place you shop. I think almost everyone realizes that even if they aren't in a store, their are always cameras somewhere watching what they are doing such as traffic cameras. I don't see anything wrong with stores trying to watch people's shopping behavior in order to make shopping a better experience for the consumers and to increase profits (potentially) for themselves. I don't see any threats in cameras monitoring your behavior. It is great that using cameras can decrease shoplifting and increase enjoyability of shopping for consumers!
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe that observational research done by companies is unethical. Companies already tape the actions of customers to make sure they don’t shoplift, so what difference does it make to use similar footage for research done to benefit the customer’s experience. Since a store is a public place I see no issue recording the actions of shoppers. I think it’s actually a good idea for companies to use observational research to make the shopping experience more customer friendly. Like the article says, it makes sense that the actions of unaware customers speak louder than the influenced words recorded during an interview.
ReplyDeleteThese observational techniques that many stores are implementing do not raise any sort of ethical questioning to me. It seems practical that this technology is being exploited because seeing certain trends people have when shopping as far as the physical aspect can have a huge impact on the sales of the company. If people are having a hard time reaching certain items the only way for the company to know would be through this visual research. As a retail sales person its very hard to remember everyone who came in the store in one day and to remember the simple issue they had during that experience would be very hard to remember to tell a manager or higher up person. The facial recognition is very interesting to me. I think as of right now it is going to be very hard to scan every face and put information with it. I defiantly see this being a bigger advancement in the future.
ReplyDeleteI do not think these observational techniques raise an ethical question for me as a marketer because I feel that you are not in a privet place such as a bathroom and your home. They are in a public place if you “Pick your nose” someone could of possibly seen you do it just by walking by. Like the article states “We live our lives surrounded by them” gas stations, the bank, stop light all take video or pictures of you when you are not aware of it. If someone is afraid that they could be seen then just refrain from doing it until they are in a private place.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that using these observational techniques are unethical. These stores are considered a public place so what you choose to do in public is on you. I think these observational are a smart idea because it gives companies the opportunity to see what needs to improve. This could also help prevent major lawsuits because the company has proof if someone sues them by doing something on purpose. i dont see anything worng with stores monitoring their customers behaviors.
ReplyDeleteI don't see anything unethical about retailers recording consumers. The article said that facial recognition isn't seeing individuals, but rather old versus young. It would be unrealistic for any consumer to believe that they were never being recorded in a store. If anything, consumers should be thankful that stores are taking such steps in order to enhance their performance and the shopping experience for customers.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that using the observational techniques are unethical. Camera's are everywhere today. Now a days, almost everything is equipped with a camera , from phones to ipods. We as consumers should know that were being watched especially on a public property such as a store. I think it is a good idea to use this technique because it helps make things easier for the consumers and helps them get what they want.
ReplyDeleteIt would not be unethical to me to use cameras to monitor people's behaviors and patterns. Almost everywhere has cameras to at least record people for theft purposes and it is a societal norm now. Therefore, it is probably not unethical for most people these days. Also, it is not illegal so I have no problem with it. I think cameras would be a good thing to have in regards to study people with the intent to increase business or make customers feel more comfortable while at a store.
ReplyDeleteInstalling camera devices or disguised security cameras in order to collect data may bring up some unethical issues but in my opinion, what they are doing is ethical. Although some customers might thinks so, they are not harming anyone or purposely spying on particular individuals. The analyst watching and analyzing the videos don’t even know the customers and there is no personal connection except for general data. It is known by many scientists that people do in fact act different when they know someone is watching them- so this camera use is a perfect way to fix it. By observing and collecting data through the use of cameras is much more accurate than for someone to be walking around a store and taking notes. I can see the unethical sides that the article pointed out, but in my opinion, it is not unethical.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I don't find the use of cameras for security purposes as well as to monitor certain consumer behaviors and patterns to be unethical. I actually believe it is a good idea and would be extremely helpful to marketers trying to find a specific target to promote their product to. In my opinion, if you are doing something that you don't want to be seen or heard about then you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. Overall, suppliers and marketers are only trying to help their consumers so they shouldn't have a problem with that.
ReplyDeleteI definitely don't see anything unethical about what these stores are doing. I think it could be a good idea when it comes to preventing shoplifting. I feel like if you want to understand they need to make sure that the consumer has no idea about the cameras. This would give the marketers a better understand of the characteristics of the target market but they would need to make sure that the consumer believes that they are alone or the findings would be skewed.
ReplyDeleteMy view after reading this article is that I feel that using the video cameras to not only use for as security, but also for marketing reasons is ethical , but makes me feel weird. Knowing someone is secretly watching me and using my actions to conceptualize my shopping is scary. On the other side, marketers can use these consistent shopping patterns to analyze the problems and then try and fix the situation to make our shopping experiences better.
ReplyDeleteThe observational techniques raise NO ethical questions for me as a marketer. Almost every store I have been to has had some type of camera to observe the behavior that goes on in there. Not once do I feel as if this is wrong in any way. I actually think that it's a good thing that the stores do that so that shoplifting and other unacceptable behavior can be avoided.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe these observational techniques raise any ethical questions. It does not affect customer privacy or compromise them in any way. It is simply a way to observe customers and their habits to improve their ability to meet customer needs and positively impact their business. I think that it is ultimately a good idea to get first hand research from regular customers. They are already using surveillance for security reasons I don't see the harm in using it for research reasons.
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe companies using observational research is unethical. These companies are just trying to get a better understanding of the consumers wants and needs. It is important that companies do all they can to provide the best product for customers and observational research helps to enhance that. As long as the goal is to make a better product I see nothing wrong with it. Whether its through recording telephone conversations with a customer or in store cameras, I see no real ethical problems with doing that. Those things protect the customer as well from being mistreated by retailers. The observation of consumers serves as a way that businesses can check if a customer is being treated the right way.
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