I’ve been watching the mainstream media talk about Target and market research over the past several weeks and the thing that amuses me the most is this idea that seems to be just buried under the surface that all of this market research is brand new.
Market research is as old as marketing.
That’s a simple fact.
I think what the underlying concern is with Target and other retailers, marketers and data collectors is not that peoples’ activities are being watched, but the outrage is more about how powerful this data is and, ultimately, how predictable we are in our behaviors as a society.