Online Marketing Essay

In today’s world, marketing research has begun to use the Internet and popular social networking sites such as, Facebook and Twitter, to gather personal information of all users. It’s becoming a lot easier for companies to connect directly with customers and collect individual information that goes into a computer database. This information can also be matched to other websites and share data collected during unrelated transactions. There are ethical and technical considerations that need to be addressed on how companies conduct its market research. Two major examples of ethical considerations of online marketing are privacy and confidentiality. Many online consumers try to avoid anything that will result in invading their privacy, but many companies tend to do that without the consumer’s knowledge. A company can easily have the ability to collect and store information relating to a consumer that can violate their right to privacy. The companies use this information to target certain advertising to that consumer, but the constant targeting can put a strain on the privacy of the consumer and start to result in a breach of confidentiality. Businesses are constantly sharing consumer’s information with partners or other affiliates to precisely target them with certain services or products they offer. Some companies sell the information to outside companies to make extra money that will lead to more strain on your privacy or even worse, identity theft. The most important example of technical consideration of online marketing is security. Security is the number one issue in a consumer’s mind when they need to use personal information to purchase or do anything online that requires that information. Hackers and viruses can lead to personal information on any database to be sold and used to wreak havoc on innocent consumers. Viruses can be used through E-mail or websites to hack into the businesses or consumer’s computer and track or steal sensitive information that can be given to a hacker at any time. Hackers can then sell that information to anyone or use it for their own benefit to ruin the reputation of that consumer. For example, hackers can use the personal information of the consumer to steal their identity and purchase things without the knowledge of the consumer and the consumer will be at fault for anything the hacker does. This continues to be an ongoing problem in the online world and something that businesses need to be very cautious about when dealing with personal information that was given from a consumer through trust in the company’s integrity online. As online marketing is becoming more popular daily around the world, companies need to realize the ethical and technical considerations that play a role on the abundance of consumer’s personal information they have. Businesses rely on precise online marketing to make the most profit with as little effort as possible, but they also need to focus on the consumer’s personal needs. Privacy, confidentiality, and security are the most important topics when it comes to personal information being stored and shared online. Without taking the time to address and resolve these issues, companies can scare away consumers from revealing certain information that helps their business grow and become successful. References Masters, T. (n.d.). Ethical Considerations of Marketing Research. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ethical-considerations-marketing-research-43621.html. Sullivan, B. (Dec 6). Online privacy fears are real. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3078835/t/online-privacy-fears-are-real/#.UZl358qE72o