Question

1. PART 1

Register at a B2C website—one of those you chose to track for the semester if one is appropriate. If not, choose another site for this exercise. Carefully consider the potential value of the data captured on the registration form. If the option is presented, you may want to configure a personal page, especially if you have not done so before. Then spend a few minutes getting acquainted with the site. What other customer data of value could the site have added to its database as a result of the time you spent there? Would you have been willing to provide that data?

PART 2

Keep a log of contacts that result from the registration you were asked to complete above and include the list here. (Bear in mind that contacts may come from the sponsor of the site itself and others may come from marketers with whom the site shares its lists, depending on the options you choose in the registration process.)

Answer 1

Part - 1

This is an experiential exercise, so answers may be somewhat different. You may want to print out the registration page filled out and walk through the data requested with a few of them. Registration pages that require more versus less data should get them thinking about why marketers are asking for this data and what they are going to do with it. The same is true of the personalization process. Personalization requires data that clearly implies personal likes and interests. The clickstream data that is created by moving around a website implies the interests of the visitor. It can be captured and stored for marketing analysis and use. As the person returns, the size of the database increases. When he / she does something like make a purchase, another important type of data is added. Sites often use the addition of new features as an opportunity to contact their users directly, often asking for more data in the process. Two things are essential in this process. The first is that with each contact, the database captures more potentially useful data. The second is that marketing uses this data to better understand customers and to provide targeted content and promotions.

Part - 2

This portion of the exercise will take place over time, so if you assign it, you will need to return to it from time to time. It is easy to keep track of contacts from the site itself. It is not as easy to track rental or sharing of the list. Sometimes it is identified, “You are receiving this as a subscriber to. . .,” and other times it is not. You should be warned to just look for an increase in related communications and to think about whether they could be a result of list sharing. Tracking this kind of marketing activity is more difficult in Internet space than it is in the physical world where mailing labels often give big hints about where the marketer got the name and address. Students should, however, learn to pay attention to what happens when they establish a relationship with a marketer. A later exercise requires them to read a privacy policy to help them understand these issues.