As a mom of a toddler, i am not surprised to learn of this kind of data mining by a big retailer such as Target. In trying to have a baby, i started getting coupons, baby magazines and even samples in the mail before achieving a positive result. It does put a mind in a whirlwind thinking of what else does the world know about my personal life? On the other hand, i don’t mind saving money, so coupons are always good new to me. But even better! coupons of products I usually buy is music to my ears. At the end of the day, we are willingly giving away this information to these retailers just by shopping at their stores. Because somewhere in the fine print on a receipt, there must be a clause about gathering information and the tradition in which we shop. In my opinion, it is unethical if the information is used in anything other than customized marketing.
Targeted marketing works, and it works because people respond to it. We can assume that if this method wasn’t effective, companies wouldn’t use it as their best tool to attract shoppers. I don’t see an ethical issue with it, at the end of the day, we as shoppers always have the choice to go to any retailer we choose and make our purchases. Nobody from Target has threatened my life in the past if i didn’t shop for diapers there. It is however the means to the end that is unethical here, the way in which target gathers its information to send the coupons. The bigger issue here is that most people don’t know the enormity of information gathered each time we spike the credit cards to pay.
The manager’s ethical obligation to the customer is apology which he made, followed by an investigation, which he also did. I believe it was fulfilled. At the management level, it is not clear that the manager could have been briefed on corporate’s style of marketing and data collection. Therefore, an apology upfront was the perfect diffuser to the customer’s anger.
The mixing of targeted ads with random ones is unethical. Target is still violating social norms by invading the privacy of its shoppers. Many newly pregnant couples choose to keep the news secret until it is safe to share. The fact that some computer network finds out before proud grand parents is outright unfair.
When dissecting Target’s practices, putting them through the TARES test, the claims are true, since the girl is indeed pregnant. Claim is authentic based on information gathered from her shopping behavior. However, it doesn’t treat the receiver with respect, since her privacy was invaded. We can also see that there is no equity between the pregnant teen and Target, she is far from well versed in the world of data mining. Not sure the ad has any social note at all, it is pure marketing.
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