ABSTRACT
Marketing has witnessed many business solutions that promise to revolutionize how we create and communicate value to our customers. One contemporary trend involves "big data," which has become a proverbial panacea for improving marketing practices. Companies are told that analyzing customer data will revolutionize their business processes and strengthen customer connections. While customers' personal data is focal to providing key insights, to date, there is little conversation about the customer perspective of his/her focal role in companies' big data use. Customers also understand that companies are using their data to target advertising and other marketing communications uniquely to them. Marketing research techniques increasingly emphasize patterns and statistical significance, downplaying the value of simple conversations in learning how these practices make customers feel. While such approaches create rigorous understanding of trends and have sharpened future predictions, often missing from this work is the simple voice of the customer, and what he or she wants in this new "big data" environment.
