DOCSLIB.ORG

A Market Segmentation Approach to Sport Fans' Social Media Usage

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Market Segmentation Approach to Sport Fans' Social Media Usage University of Northern Colorado Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC Dissertations Student Research 12-2019 Give the Fans What They Want: A Market Segmentation Approach to Sport Fans’ Social Media Usage Kerry Dale Fischer Follow this and additional works at: https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Fischer, Kerry Dale, "Give the Fans What They Want: A Market Segmentation Approach to Sport Fans’ Social Media Usage" (2019). Dissertations. 616. https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations/616 This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. © 2019 KERRY DALE FISCHER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO Greeley, Colorado The Graduate School GIVE THE FANS WHAT THEY WANT: A MARKET SEGMENTATION APPROACH TO SPORT FANS’ SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Kerry Dale Fischer College of Natural Health Sciences School of Sport and Exercise Science Sport Administration December 2019 This Dissertation by: Kerry Dale Fischer Entitled: Give the Fans What They Want: A Market Segmentation Approach to Sport Fans’ Social Media Usage has been approved as meeting the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in College of Natural Health Sciences in School of Sport and Exercise Science, Program of Sport Administration Accepted by the Doctoral Committee Alan Morse, Ph.D., Research Advisor Gary Heise, Ph.D., Committee Member Robert Brustad, Ph.D., Committee Member Susan R. Hutchinson, Ph.D., Faculty Representative Date of Dissertation Defense ________________________________________________ Accepted by the Graduate School _____________________________________________________________ Cindy Wesley Interim Associate Provost and Dean The Graduate School and International Programs ABSTRACT Fischer, Kerry D. Give the Fans What They Want: A Market Segmentation Approach to Sport Fans’ Social Media Usage. Published Doctor of Philosophy dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2019. The purpose of this study was to construct a model that segments fans of professional sport based on the type of social media platform they preferred to use as well as their social media usage motivations. In addition, the current study sought to investigate whether previously identified motives like escape and socialization, have transformed into more selfish motives such as narcissism. Convenience and snowball sampling techniques were used to collect data from fans of professional sport who specifically used social media to consume sport, resulting in a total sample size of 176. The online survey instrument was comprised of items from the previously validated Motivation Scale for Sport Online Consumption (MSSOC; Seo & Green, 2008) scale and the Narcissism Personality Inventory-16 (NPI-16; Ames, Rose, & Anderson, 2006) scale. In addition, several frequency, usage, and duration items, including how often respondents used Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, were generated to gauge how often respondents spent time on social media consuming sport. Composite scores were calculated for the MSSOC and NPI-16 responses. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed three distinct social media preference groups labeled a) Facebook Devotees (n=51), b) Infrequent Users (n=71), and c) Social Media Aficionados (n=54). Facebook Devotees generally preferred to use Facebook more than any iii other social media platform, while the Social Media Aficionados had the highest mean usage rates for Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Descriptive discriminant analysis indicated that 67% of the differences among Facebook Devotees, Infrequent Users, and Social Media Aficionados can be attributed to social media preference. With regard to social media usage motivation, hierarchical cluster analysis identified two groups labeled a) Multifaceted Fans (n=72) and b) Casual Supporter (n=104). Multifaceted fans exhibited high levels of motivation for nearly all usage motivations, while Casual Supporters had high motivation mean scores for only two motivations, “passing the time,” and “information.” Descriptive discriminant analysis revealed that 61% of the differences between Multifaceted Fans and Casual Supporters was explained by social media usage motivation. Finally, a Pearson correlation analysis (two-tailed) revealed no statistically significant correlations between narcissism and social media usage motivation. Overall, the findings from this study provide sport organizations with valuable marketing and communication information. The fan segments uncovered in the results reveal that fans have different motivations for consuming sport via social media. Sport organizations can use this information to tailor their social media strategy to specific fan segments, increasing engagement, strengthening fans’ brand loyalty, and ultimately generating more revenue. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As with any large undertaking, completing my Ph.D. would not have been possible without the help and guidance of several key individuals. First and foremost, I have to thank my mother, Kathy, who supported me when I told her I wanted to pursue a doctorate, celebrated all the highs, and suffered all the lows as I walked this journey. I could not have done this without your support, so thank you! I would also like to thank my sister, Kelly. You have been my rock when I needed to rage and complain, and you have believed in me since the day I told you I wanted to pursue a doctorate. I cannot tell you how much your support has meant to me, and I could not have made it this far without you! To Dr. Morse, you joined my committee right after you joined the Northern Colorado faculty, and then willingly stepped into the position of chair when I was forced to make a committee change. I can never thank you enough for your willingness to serve in this role and for helping me figure out what to do when I found myself needing to make even more committee changes. Northern Colorado is truly blessed to have you as a member of the faculty, and the Sport Administration program could not ask for a better program leader. I hope I am half the professor you have become. Dr. Hutchinson, words cannot express my gratitude for joining my committee after I had already proposed. You have provided invaluable guidance and have ensured that this dissertation is the strongest it can be. I honestly would have been lost without you, and I truly appreciate all your words of wisdom and your patience in explaining some of the more difficult statistical v analyses that I had to run. Northern Colorado is lucky to have you, and I will be forever in your debt for all your help. Dr. Heise and Dr. Brustad, you also came on board quite late in this journey, and I am truly thankful you were both willing to serve on my committee. It cannot be an easy decision to join a student’s committee without having read at least the proposal. I have incredible respect for both of you and am blessed to have gotten to know you during my time at Northern Colorado. Half of the reason that the university has strong doctoral programs in the School of Sport and Exercise Science is because of the faculty, and you are both tremendous faculty within your respective disciplines. Finally, to Dr. Ryan Vooris and Dr. Kevin Dames, I would have been completely lost without the two of you when it came time to run initial analysis. If not for you, I would still be pulling my hair out trying to figure out where to start and how to use R. Thank you for being patient with me and for being my friends. I could not ask for better colleagues, both as a graduate student, and as a new professor. vi DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my father, Dennis. Even though we never had the chance to form a father-daughter relationship because you were taken from me too soon, I know you have been with me every day of my life, shared my elation and grief, and helped me through the stress of pursing my doctorate. I know you are proud of this accomplishment. I love you! vii TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 Problem Statement .................................................................................................. 3 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................... 5 Research Questions and Hypotheses ...................................................................... 5 Need for the Study .................................................................................................. 6 Delimitations ........................................................................................................... 8 Limitations .............................................................................................................. 9 Definition of Terms............................................................................................... 10 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................. 11 Social Media ......................................................................................................... 11 Uses and Gratifications ........................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Market Analysis and Marketing Plan for the Business Plan: Tips and Discussion
    Market Analysis and Marketing Plan for the Business Plan: Tips and Discussion Library Research Page: http://libguides.ucmercedlibrary.info/wri30_haner_davidson The Market Analysis Section The Market Analysis section answers a few big questions that your audience of potential investors needs to know: who is your customer, how large is the market potential, what would they be willing to spend on your product, and why would they buy it? Some of these questions may overlap with other sections, but the idea is that the foundation for these answers is the market analysis. Make sure there is consistency with the rest of the plan. Find charts and graphs (cited properly), or make charts and graphs to represent your market. A narrative customer profile of your target customer or customers could be incorporated into the Market Analysis, or a Marketing section, for a full business plan, but these sections are sometimes combined. Make sure to answer the major questions: Who is Your Customer? This should offer a breakdown of the demographics and psychographics of your target population, it's size, ages, sex, income, ethnicity, and whatever else that you find out about your customer base. This could also describe spending patterns and time use. Again, whatever you can find you use. The Library Research Page has numerous resources for demographics, economic and population statistics. You have links to Census data, time-use data, spending patterns, purchasing power, and etc. Search Lexus Nexus for news articles about your industry and customers. Also, search Google. Search your competitors' websites for anything about their customers. Look for Trade Journals on Business Source Complete.
    [Show full text]
  • Psychographic Questionnaires: a Comparative Review of Scales and Structures
    PSYCHOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRES: A COMPARATIVE REVIEW OF SCALES AND STRUCTURES by KELLY FUHR B.S., UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS, 2010 A REPORT submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF SCIENCE Food Science KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2015 Approved by: Major Professor Dr. Delores Chambers Abstract Psychographic Questionnaires: A Comparative Review of Structures and Scales In recent years there has been a growing trend toward integrating psychographic profiles into sensory studies with the aim of more holistically explaining consumer segmentation and preferences. With this shift in approach have come questions on the nature of psychographic scales and the theoretical implications of their structure. Given the plethora of existing psychographic scales in common practice, the purpose of this review is to give a concise overview in the breadth of structures, with the aim of helping sensory researchers identify the most appropriate scale for their needs. The review begins with a critical comparison of the three most common scale classes: Likert, Semantic Differential, and Behavioral Frequency, and their relative advantages and disadvantages. Following that, a review of psychographic questionnaire design highlights differences from sensory practices, drawing attention to sources of response bias in specific design typologies which may reduce data quality in a product design. Table of Contents List of Figures ...............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Society Persuasion In
    PERSUASION IN SOCIETY HERBERT W. SIMONS with JOANNE MORREALE and BRUCE GRONBECK Table of Contents List of Artwork in Persuasion in Society xiv About the Author xvii Acknowledgments xix Preface xx Part 1: Understanding Persuasion 1. The Study of Persuasion 3 Defining Persuasion 5 Why Is Persuasion Important? 10 Studying Persuasion 14 The Behavioral Approach: Social-Scientific Research on the Communication-Persuasion Matrix 15 The Critical Studies Approach: Case Studies and “Genre-alizations” 17 Summary 20 Questions and Projects for Further Study 21 2. The Psychology of Persuasion: Basic Principles 25 Beliefs and Values as Building Blocks of Attitudes 27 Persuasion by Degrees: Adapting to Different Audiences 29 Schemas: Attitudes as Knowledge Structures 32 From Attitudes to Actions: The Role of Subjective Norms 34 Elaboration Likelihood Model: Two Routes to Persuasion 34 Persuasion as a Learning Process 36 Persuasion as Information Processing 37 Persuasion and Incentives 38 Persuasion by Association 39 Persuasion as Psychological Unbalancing and Rebalancing 40 Summary 41 Questions and Projects for Further Study 42 3. Persuasion Broadly Considered 47 Two Levels of Communication: Content and Relational 49 Impression Management 51 Deception About Persuasive Intent 51 Deceptive Deception 52 Expression Games 54 Persuasion in the Guise of Objectivity 55 Accounting Statements and Cost-Benefit Analyses 55 News Reporting 56 Scientific Reporting 57 History Textbooks 58 Reported Discoveries of Social Problems 59 How Multiple Messages Shape Ideologies 59 The Making of McWorld 63 Summary 66 Questions and Projects for Further Study 68 Part 2: The Coactive Approach 4. Coactive Persuasion 73 Using Receiver-Oriented Approaches 74 Being Situation Sensitive 76 Combining Similarity and Credibility 79 Building on Acceptable Premises 82 Appearing Reasonable and Providing Psychological Income 85 Using Communication Resources 86 Summary 88 Questions and Projects for Further Study 89 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Personality Or Value: a Comparative Study of Psychographic Segmentation Based on an Online Review Enhanced Recommender System
    applied sciences Article Personality or Value: A Comparative Study of Psychographic Segmentation Based on an Online Review Enhanced Recommender System 1, 1,2, 3 1 1,4 1, Hui Liu y, Yinghui Huang y, Zichao Wang , Kai Liu , Xiangen Hu and Weijun Wang * 1 Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China; [email protected] (H.L.); [email protected] (Y.H.); [email protected] (K.L.); [email protected] (X.H.) 2 School of Information Management, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China 3 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA; [email protected] 4 Department of Psychology, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +86-153-0715-0076 Hui Liu and Yinghui Huang are co-first authors. y Received: 1 March 2019; Accepted: 8 May 2019; Published: 15 May 2019 Abstract: Big consumer data promises to be a game changer in applied and empirical marketing research. However, investigations of how big data helps inform consumers’ psychological aspects have, thus far, only received scant attention. Psychographics has been shown to be a valuable market segmentation path in understanding consumer preferences. Although in the context of e-commerce, as a component of psychographic segmentation, personality has been proven to be effective for prediction of e-commerce user preferences, it still remains unclear whether psychographic segmentation is practically influential in understanding user preferences across different product categories. To the best of our knowledge, we provide the first quantitative demonstration of the promising effect and relative importance of psychographic segmentation in predicting users’ online purchasing preferences across different product categories in e-commerce by using a data-driven approach.
    [Show full text]
  • Psychographics: Is It an Effective Marketing Tool
    International Journal of Advanced Research and Development International Journal of Advanced Research and Development ISSN: 2455-4030; Impact Factor: RJIF 5.24 Received: 16-01-2019; Accepted: 18-02-2019 www.advancedjournal.com Volume 4; Issue 2; March 2019; Page No. 33-35 Psychographics: Is it an effective marketing tool Arjun Oberoi1, Ishan Saraf2, Sumaya Batta3, Esha Rawal4 1-4 Students, Department of Finance and International Business, CHRIST (Deemed to be) University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India Abstract In an environment dominated by the digital medium, where businesses are deluged with enormous data about their target groups, what they choose to value and measure has increasingly become critical to success. Beyond capturing data, Digital Marketing has aroused enormous curiosity for its scope and capabilities in either manipulating or driving consumer choices. A variety of tools and techniques, from Data Analytics to Algorithm-based data points, have mushroomed to capture this data and organize it. However, the correlation between these tools and actual conversion to sales; in essence, the influence that Marketers are actually able to exert on their target audience through online platforms is weak or hard to measure. In light of this the introduction of Psychographics as a tool/method of influencing and converting audiences into regular customers has become extremely popular in the past few years. More than merely affecting choices, Psychographics seeks to influence the decision-making processes of people based on their personality types and emotional trigger points. In recent years, Psychographics has come to be associated with the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the US Presidential Election of 2016.
    [Show full text]
  • Dragnet Surveillance Nation How Data Brokers Sold out America
    Dragnet Surveillance Nation How Data Brokers Sold Out America January 2017 Author: James Scott (Senior Fellow – Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology) 1 Contents Introduction - Corporate Dragnet Surveillance Has Brought Adversaries “Home to Roost” ................... 3 Information is Power ................................................................................................................................ 5 The Next-Generation of Hybrid Information Warfare Is Here .................................................................. 9 The Product is “You” ............................................................................................................................... 11 Americans Are Targeted More Successfully because America Lags Behind Global Privacy Initiatives .. 12 Who Are Data Brokers? .......................................................................................................................... 15 Problem 1: Data Brokers Operate in the Shadows ................................................................................. 19 Where Do Brokers Acquire Data? ....................................................................................................... 21 Problem 2: Fact: Data Brokers are Historically Negligent ....................................................................... 29 ChoicePoint (2004, 2006) .................................................................................................................... 29 Dun & Bradstreet, LexisNexis , and Kroll Background
    [Show full text]
  • Lessons from Others for Future U.S. Army Operations in and Through the Information Environment CASE STUDIES
    C O R P O R A T I O N Lessons from Others for Future U.S. Army Operations in and Through the Information Environment CASE STUDIES Christopher Paul, Colin P. Clarke, Michael Schwille, Jakub P. Hlávka, Michael A. Brown, Steven S. Davenport, Isaac R. Porche III, Joel Harding For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR1925z2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-0-8330-9997-6 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2018 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Cover photos (clockwise from top left): Giorgio Montersino via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0); U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Adawn Kelsey; U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt John Gordinier; U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt Andrew J. Moseley; Russian Ministry of Defence (CC BY 4.0); North Korean national media Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Psychographics and the Application Of
    A STUDY OF PSYCHOGRAPHICS AND THE APPLICATION OF PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION IN THE HONG KONG COSMETICS MARKET by KO KIT-LING KITTY、巧'水 ^ LI KIT-YEE KAREN�參滚倦� MBA PROJECT REPORT Presented to The Graduat• efi if School In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION TWO-YEAR MBA PROGRAMME THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG May 1991 Dr. L. Swanson Advisor HP - c ^ 72 K 各 321135 / “ .. -‘� 0 5 m mi ] ii \ .../ f \ •/ . , V …� , / 拳� 1 ABSTRACT Consumer patterns of spending time and money inspire new ways of understanding and predicting their consumption behavior. Lifestyle and psychographic analyses can increase marketing effectiveness by enabling marketers to match product positionings and marketing plans to the market before the products are launched. To provide useful input to Hong Kong marketers, we conducted a psychographic study of female cosmetics users. Through a review of relevant literature, company interviews and customer surveys, we found that frequent users of cosmetics are older, more likely to be married, mostly employed in sales/servicing, homemaking, or management (in rank sequence), and have relatively high personal incomes. Additionally, we found that frequent users of cosmetics have a lifestyle which could be described as fashion conscious and functionalist. New methods of market segmentation, product launch, distribution, advertising and promotion are derived based on the above findings. Hence, more effective strategies may result in greater satisfaction for both the consumer and marketer. 1•1 • TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT I TABLE OF CONTENTS U LIST OF TABLES ^^ LIST OF APPENDICES ^ PREFACE VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vii Chapter I.
    [Show full text]
  • Psychographics for B2b Marketing
    PSYCHOGRAPHICS FOR B2B MARKETING www.INFUSEmedia.com Psychographics for B2B Marketing Introduction Personalization has many benefits for B2B marketers, from building lasting customer relationships to driving long-term revenue. It is also a particularly important issue in an era when audiences are bombarded with content across channels and devices, both in their personal and professional lives. In this climate, messages or offers must be, at the very least, relevant to the recipient. In the past, B2B marketers addressed personalization by creating buyer personas, representations of their ideal consumer based on demographic data. The challenge is that persona-level targeting does not address some key factors in the buying and decision-making process. While a persona may capture the essentials of who a prospect is, it does not delve into the specific drivers of a purchasing decision. For marketers, psychographics is transforming the ability to relate truly relevant messaging to an audience. This methodology enables marketers to understand behavior using data to reveal desires, and even to predict future needs. Purpose of this whitepaper As B2B marketers, you need to understand the behavior, the emotions, and the motivations that drive your customers to purchase products. This is where psychographics comes into play. This whitepaper will explain how psychographics can be used to attract the right leads and provide them with valuable solutions at the perfect time. www.INFUSEmedia.com 2 Psychographics for B2B Marketing The fundamentals of psychographics Psychographics is based on IAO variables (interests, activities, and opinions). Like behavioral science, psychographics connects to the cognitive factors and key influences behind purchase decisions and consumer behaviors.
    [Show full text]
  • Participatory Propaganda Model 1
    A PARTICIPATORY PROPAGANDA MODEL 1 Participatory Propaganda: The Engagement of Audiences in the Spread of Persuasive Communications Alicia Wanless Michael Berk Director of Strategic Communications, Visiting Research Fellow, SecDev Foundation Centre for Cyber Security and International [email protected] Relations Studies, University of Florence [email protected] Paper presented at the "Social Media & Social Order, Culture Conflict 2.0" conference organized by Cultural Conflict 2.0 and sponsored by the Research Council of Norway on 1 December 2017, Oslo. To be published as part of the conference proceedings in 2018. A PARTICIPATORY PROPAGANDA MODEL 2 Abstract Existing research on aspects of propaganda in a digital age tend to focus on isolated techniques or phenomena, such as fake news, trolls, memes, or botnets. Providing invaluable insight on the evolving human-technology interaction in creating new formats of persuasive messaging, these studies lend to an enriched understanding of modern propaganda methods. At the same time, the true effects and magnitude of successful influencing of large audiences in the digital age can only be understood if target audiences are perceived not only as ‘objects’ of influence, but as ‘subjects’ of persuasive communications as well. Drawing from vast available research, as well as original social network and content analyses conducted during the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, this paper presents a new, qualitatively enhanced, model of modern propaganda – “participatory propaganda” - and discusses its effects on modern democratic societies. Keywords: propaganda, Facebook, social network analysis, content analysis, politics A PARTICIPATORY PROPAGANDA MODEL 3 Participatory Propaganda: The Engagement of Audiences in the Spread of Persuasive Communications Rapidly evolving information communications technologies (ICTs) have drastically altered the ways individuals engage in the public information domain, including news ways of becoming subjected to external influencing.
    [Show full text]
  • Target Market Person Activity Guide
    Target Market Person Teacher Overview arket segmentation is a marketing analysis strategy that When to Use This Lesson Minvolves subdividing the market into smaller groups This activity can be used at any time during called segments. Market segment descriptions typically include the course as a part of teaching market demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioral segmentation and target marketing. Teaching segments. A target market is a specific group of consumers that target market and market segmentation also have similar wants and needs. aligns with teaching the Customer Segments block of the Business Model Canvas. The business owner can utilize knowledge of the market segments and sound judgment when making decisions regarding different ways to build productive customer Time relationships through market strategies that most effectively 120 reach the business’s target market. Some target markets may min not be a sound investment, while others may help a business thrive and get the most benefit from its marketing dollars. Approximately 120 minutes depending on the In this activity, students will research a popular U.S. restaurant, size of the class and the number of teams that then create a target person for the restaurant their team need to pitch. selects. Students will research the restaurant to gain as many clues as they can about the business’s market segments and target market. After developing their target market person, teams will pitch their target market person and why they believe it represents the business’s market segmentation. BEFORE CLASS PREPARATION KEY TERMS > Determine how you want to divide students into teams of 3-4.
    [Show full text]
  • IS the FTC KEEPING PACE? Terrell Mcsweeny*
    GEORGETOWN LAW TECHNOLOGY REVIEW PSYCHOGRAPHICS, PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, & BOTS: IS THE FTC KEEPING PACE? Terrell McSweeny* CITE AS: 2 GEO. L. TECH. REV. 514 (2018) INTRODUCTION Election meddling, state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, and the potential manipulation of platform users is provoking intense reactions to technology around the world.1 The outrage following news reports that the data of millions of people were used without their knowledge to train sophisticated targeting tools that may have manipulated voters suggests that consumers expectations of how their data are collected and used do not correspond with the reality of the business models of many data-driven platforms.2 The allegations, if true, underscore the power of increasingly sophisticated predictive technology and the limitations of the United States’ largely self-regulatory approach to consumer data rights, privacy, and security. These allegations also raise the possibility that regulators, * Terrell McSweeny was Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission until April 2018. Prior to serving as a Commissioner, she held numerous positions in government including Chief Counsel, United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division and Deputy Assistant to President Obama and Domestic Policy Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden. 1 See Giovanni Buttarelli (European Data Protection Supervisor), EDPS Opinion On Online Manipulation and Personal Data, EUROPA (Mar. 19, 2018), https://edps.europa.eu/sites/edp/files/publication/18-03-19_online_manipulation_en.pdf
    [Show full text]