Assessment of the Mankato Area's young Adult Population's Knowledge of Mall Video Mining for Marketing Research

Abstract

The most modern form of gathering marketing information is not as new as many people believe. The trepidation of Big Brother’s cameras watching down on us puts a chill down most peoples’ backs. In numerous mall stores, cameras are located in each store and are examining you. Most believe that the cameras are positioned for the purpose of shoplifting and crime, but the truth is many are also used for the purpose of marketing. Video mining as it is known has emerged as the latest method of conducting market research. The stores that are participating in this study are diligently watching an assortment of things. Marketing analysts watch what a customer has picked up, what they have looked at, the amount purchased, colors that attract them, their facial expressions, and many other forms of movement. This information is gathered and recorded, then shot across the nation via computer to a company such as Shopper Trak that views and analyzes clips of customers shopping. Shopper Trak presently has 40,000 cameras in various stores across the nation. Most customers have little knowledge of this marketing tactic or that there are no laws prohibiting this action. Do stores and business’s have an ethical duty to reveal their practices to their customers? Is it legal for them to use the personal information or preferences of their customers to exploit them without their knowledge or consent? Finally, where is the line drawn on what is considered personal, private information?