How do People Feel About Targeted Deals/Pricing?

I sometimes see topics like this or this where I feel like there isn't really a deal due to the targeting and it's just free advertising for the company. I then think about a future where OzBargain is just 70% targeted deals. Is it just spam at some point?

I also wonder about how people feel about targeted pricing in general. Targeted pricing is often the result of a company knowing enough about you that they have some confidence in being able to manipulate the targeted. The targeting can be in your favour but it can also be used against you. If a seller knows you after really after a product, they might price it higher because they know you are more willing to pay regardless of the cost.

There have been some interesting discussions on OzBargain that tie to this topic such as the "Are You Still Using Cash or You Gone Cashless?" last month where the majority stated that they would rather be cashless which can lead to easier targeting.

What do you think about this topic? Do you have any privacy concerns? I find this topic really interesting and look forward to hearing all responses.

Comments

  • +1

    It’s all psychological targeted marketing. You just got to see it for what it is and use it to your advantage. Learn how to manipulate it it so you get targeted for what you want when you want it or exploit the little deals.
    There’s multiple tricks to stay ahead but at the end of the day buy what you need not what you want. That’s my mantra

  • +1

    If a seller knows you after really after a product, they might price it higher because they know you are more willing to pay regardless of the cost

    This is why flight prices are always more expensive the second time you check online - they're tracking you via cookies etc and know that you'll pay more if you have urgency/set timeframes etc. Incognito mode and the like can be handy here when browsing.

  • FYI

    If you don't want to see targeted deals on OzBargain, you can hide them by selecting:

    My Account-Edit-Deals
    Unclick Show deals marked as Targeted

    or

    Go to any deal
    Click Hide
    Click Hide Targeted deals

    See Targeted Offers

    • Thanks neil. I'm aware of that but that doesn't help in the case of RSS. :)

  • I also wonder about how people feel about targeted pricing in general. Targeted pricing is often the result of a company knowing enough about you that they have some confidence in being able to manipulate the targeted. The targeting can be in your favour but it can also be used against you. If a seller knows you after really after a product, they might price it higher because they know you are more willing to pay regardless of the cost.

    I've been following this topic for a while. Unfortunately for this discussion, I'm not currently leaning one way or another. It's an area that I'm interested in getting into, work wise.

    It's a fallacy that the selling price has a direct relationship with cost price. It has more to do with perceived relative value. Relative depends on a combination of the person and product in question.

    Targeted pricing is interesting. As you said, the danger is when information is collected, it can turn the relationship lop sided. Add to it the effeciency that artificial intelligence brings to the table, it's a potential game changer. On one hand, when AI has a large amount of information on you, it'll always know how to stack a deal to exactly your price threshold. On the other hand, it can open up deals to people who usually wouldn't be able to afford a product.

    It has pros and cons. It's complicated and there will be unexpected consequences (both good and bad) that no one expected.

    • It's an area that I'm interested in getting into, work wise.

      I'm really interested to hear in what way you see yourself getting involved. In the case of digital marketing, I've seen people who have ended up quitting out of disgust over what they're "contributing" to society. Other people seem to have absolutely no problem as they feel they are doing a real service to make sure people are catered to at the individual level.

      • Software engineering side of things.

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