Digital footprint wrangling: are analytics used for better or worse? A concurrent mixed methods research on the commercial (ab)use of dataveillance

• Published in: Journal of marketing analytics 2022-09, Vol.10 (3), p.187-206
• Main Authors: Abrantes, Bruno F., Ostergaard, Klaus Grue
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavior; Big Data; Brokers; Business and Management; Consumers; Data analysis; General Data Protection Regulation; Isomorphism; Market analysis; Mixed methods research; Objectives; Original Article; Perception; Perceptions; Personal information; Prediction models
• ISSN: 2050-3318; 2050-3326
• DOI: 10.1057/s41270-021-00144-5

Despite the introduction in the European Union (EU) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May-18, a growing opposition is noticed against the allegedly hazardous commercial exploitation of the consumer’s digital footprints. A “data autocracy” regime is asserted to be distorting the information to the consumer and bias the ability to take informed free choices. Consequently, companies face nowadays a great data governance challenge, i.e. to restore the consumer’s positive sentiment while continuing to explore Big Data. Hence, we have conducted a multi-method enquiry with foci on the Danish market covering the topic of digital footprint’s awareness. This was fashioned with a descriptive-exploratory research purpose, to understand the sentiment (perception) and the behavior (action) of the data-owners and data-brokers surrounding the dataveillance over personal lives. Results confirmed a generalized inability to minimize risks of data misuse. A new insight for Marketeers is the willingness of some respondents to pay for security services and thus safeguard their privacy (disbelieved of the regulatory compliance system). A perception-behavior gap is noticed on the distress with the exposure of personal information and the paradoxical low self-defensiveness. Likewise, data-brokers admit the deliberate use (perception) of imitation strategies (e.g. hyper-targeting; algorithmic refinement; and, predictive modeling) for maintaining a competitive parity with other firms, which contrasts with the institutional isomorphism (inaction) to interrupt them. Given the relevance of this discussion (and our conclusions) for policy-making, managers (inclusively marketing professionals) and citizens, is recommended the deepening of this research line in the region, especially in Nordic countries.