Ethical Implications in the Way Some Marketing Activities is Using Big Data

Abstract

Big Data has been used by managers to expand their ability to measure results and make decisions (Brynjolfsson and McFeem, 2012). In Brazil, companies still operate in a certain lack of regulations. Although existence of specific laws is not considered always sufficient to deal with all potential abuse of Big Data, (King and Richards, 2014). In this context, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the ethical implications of using Big Data tools in marketing activities. This work is a case study conducted in a Brazilian company of the loyalty program market. The data were obtained through an interview with a marketing manager working with Big Data and also through documents provided by the company. Data were analyzed using content analysis. The organization internally adopts specific rules to avoid abuse of Big Data. One of them would be to not use data that the customer is unaware of having made available, such as those related to certain consumer interactions on platforms such as Facebook. Despite these practices, the organization still does not have a comprehensive and official policy regarding the ethical implications of using Big Data.

Keywords

• Big Data
• Marketing
• Ethics
• Consumer Rights
• Brazil