The Impact of the Digital Revolution on Costumer Behavior

In the futuristic thriller movie Minority Report that takes place in the year 2054, the hero, played by the actor Tom Cruise, experiences the ultimate one-to-one marketing. As the hero passes by a billboard featuring the American Express card, the billboard becomes a hologram, presumably visible only to him, portraying his picture and personal data and urging him to use the card. He then enters a Gap store where customers are met by voices greeting them by name, asking them how they liked previous purchases, and suggesting items that they may like based on their past purchases. Indeed, as portrayed in this film, the year 2054 will be a marketer's paradise. But in many ways futuristic marketing is already here: Shoppers in many supermarkets receive, upon checkout, personalized coupons based on their purchases; many newspapers allow online readers to create personalized editions in which customized ads are featured; and customers can now purchase highly personalized versions of many products. For example, at Nike's Web site, buyers can now choose among many models of sneakers in different price ranges, customize the chosen shoe using several colors and features (e.g., some models even allow buyers to choose the colors of Nike Swoosh and the laces), put a personal ID on each shoe, pay for the product, and have it shipped directly to them.

As we marvel at these new marketing technologies, we must also put them in appropriate perspective. In principle, they are extensions of the salesperson in a local shoe store who recognizes customers by name and the preferences, or the neighborhood grocer who remembers the routine daily purchases of each customer and places them on the counter before the customer even asks for them, or the small-town jeweler who keeps track of customers' special occasions and prepares a selection of appropriate gifts for them to purchase as anniversaries and birthdays approach. All these businesspeople have engaged in one-to-one marketing long before the term was coined and many decades before personalized digital communications became available. And the objectives of the shoe salesperson, the grocer, and the jeweler were the same then as those of large companies today: to attain customers, retain good customers, sell them more products, and make profit.

Today, the digital revolution of the marketplace allows much greater customization of products, services, and promotional messages than older marketing tools. By doing so, it enables marketers to build and maintain relationships with customers just like the salesperson, grocer, and jeweler discussed earlier have done for many decades - but on a much greater and more efficient scale. Digital technologies also enable marketers to collect and analyze increasingly complex data on consumers' buying patterns and personal characteristics. On the other hand, the same technologies enable consumers to find more information about products and services, including prices, more easily, efficiently, and, for the most part, from the comfort of their own homes.