Name: Naked Consumer
ISBN: 9780140233032

At a Glance

Why This Clicks

Private Lives, Public Data

A private-life inquiry follows the trail from junk mail to the machinery of consumer data.

Come here for

The unnerving leap from ordinary marketing to intimate personal information
An investigation built around Larson’s undercover corporate role

Expect

A close look at how companies gather and sell personal data
A look at government’s role in making consumer information easier to gather

Book Details

Authors: Erik Larson
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: February 1, 1994
Format: Print & ebook
Theme: Marketing Research · Social Media & Online Life
Reading lane: Marketing Research

Affinity

Publisher Categories

Business Ethics
Why People Buy
Marketing Research

About This Book

After receiving a sudden surge of junk mail directed at new parents—even though his wife at the time was merely pregnant— Erik Larson, the National Bestselling author, set out to explore the lengths companies go to spy on individual consumers. Posing as a CEO of a fictitious direct-mail corporation, Larson infiltrated companies that gather and sell personal information to assist businesses in their marketing campaigns. He discovered the systems used to gather personal data,...

Read full description

After receiving a sudden surge of junk mail directed at new parents—even though his wife at the time was merely pregnant— Erik Larson, the National Bestselling author, set out to explore the lengths companies go to spy on individual consumers. Posing as a CEO of a fictitious direct-mail corporation, Larson infiltrated companies that gather and sell personal information to assist businesses in their marketing campaigns. He discovered the systems used to gather personal data, the staggering amount of personal information companies can gather, and the government’s role in helping companies learn about you.