During the last class we discussed chapter six of the text (Display Advertising and Other Customer Acquisition Techniques). More specifically, we discussed the aspect of "Behavioral Targeting." The advancement of internet technologies, coupled with social media, has made it easier for retailers to track consumer buying habits. Additionally, retailers now have the capability to adjust prices based on consumer preferences and trends (see the Next Wed: Insider article: "Why 2012 is the Year of Behavioral Pricing").
For a long time businesses have tried to identify consumers' reservation prices and charge them a price close to it. Old airline days of higher price for no Saturday stay over, Broadway higher prices when you buy way ahead of time, or any auction scheme are prime example of this. Now that people on a voluntary basis reveal so much about themselves, the task of identifying the high payers (those with a higher reservation price for a product) is becoming easier and charging them a higher price, more tempting.
The article delves a little deeper into this concept stating:
"By piecing together your web history, social media presence, and demographics, marketers have a near complete picture of you. Do you own a house, visit home improvement websites, and tweet about DIY? Watch as online stores use behavioral pricing to extract the highest price possible from you."
On top of that, some sites now employ un-deleteable/undetectable cookies. No telling what they're doing or plan on doing with the information they obtain. But when it comes to marketing, any and all data gives businesses the opportunity to capitalize on consumer behavior, with or without their knowledge.
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