INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

MKT101- MKT1618

Lecturer: Nguyen Thi Luu

Student’s name: Bui Ngoc Anh

Student’s code: HS163153

 TABLE OF CONTENT

I. Introduction……………………………………………………………………. 3

II. Literature review and Analysis……………………………………………….. 3

1. Technological environment……………………………………………………… 3

2. The main trends in technological environment…………………………………. 3

3. Analyse the issue of customer privacy invasion in the era of digital marketing… 5

III. Recommendation……………………………………………………………….. 7

1. Collecting customer information………………………………………………. 7

2. Suggest solutions to build trusting relationship with customers in the digital era.. 8

IV. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 9

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I. Introduction

According to the Cambridge Dictionary: "The digital age is the present time, when most

information is in digital form". Nowadays, we are in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0 - the most

brilliant development so far in the digital age. Many activities have been gradually changing the

traditional marketing environment, including the development of a new type of environment, the

technology environment. This document was written to delve deeper into the technology environment,

key trends in the technology environment, and how to build trusting relationships with customers in the

digital age.

II. Literature review and Analysis

1. Technological environment

Technological environment is a component of macro environment. It refers to the state of science

and technology in the country and related aspects such as rate of technological progress, institutional

arrangements for development and application of new technology, etc

Technological environment changes very fast, affects the way the resources of the economy are

converted into output.

The technological environment is perhaps the most dramatic force now shaping our destiny. New

technologies can offer exciting opportunities for marketers. For examples, For examples, chatbots

allow marketers to respond to basic customer questions more quickly, helping to increase customer

satisfaction.

However, new technology products also make customers feel more worried about the safety of their

personal information, directly affecting the process of building trust relationships with customers. in

the digital age.

2. The main trends in technological environment

Nowadays, technology is evolving at a rapid pace, enabling change and faster progress. During the

outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic, the importance of technology and technology trends has been

demonstrated even more clearly. Early adopters of new technology often gain a higher profit and

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capture a higher market share. When researching, I have synthesized 4 main trends of the technology

environment: Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning; Robotic Process Automation (RPA);

Internet of Things (IoT); Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.

a. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning

A Simple difinition of Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by

machines, especially computer systems. In recent years, we have seen more of the presence of AI, but

it continues to be one of the new technology trends because of its remarkable impact on the way we

live, work, and live. Work and entertainment are just in the early stages.

AI can be categorized as either weak or strong:

 Weak AI, also known as narrow AI, is an AI system that is designed and trained to complete a

specific task. Industrial robots, self-driving car, virtual personal assistants, such as Apple's Siri,

use weak AI.

 Strong AI, also known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), describes programming that can

replicate the cognitive abilities of the human brain. When presented with an unfamiliar task, a

strong AI system can use fuzzy logic to apply knowledge from one domain to another and find

a solution autonomously. In theory, a strong AI program should be able to pass both a Turing

Test and the Chinese room test.

b. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Like AI and Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, is another technology that is

automating jobs. RPA is the use of software to automate business processes such as interpreting

applications, processing transactions, dealing with data, and even replying to emails. RPA automates

repetitive tasks that people used to do.

Many CIOs are turning to this approach to streamline business operations and reduce costs. With

RPA, businesses can automate business processes based on common sense rules, allowing business

users to spend more time serving customers or other higher-value work.

c. Internet of Things (IoT)

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 The Internet of Things is an emerging topic of technical, social, and economic significance.

Consumer products, durable goods, cars and trucks, industrial and utility components, sensors, and

other everyday objects are being combined with Internet connectivity and powerful data analytic

capabilities that promise to transform the way we work, live, and play. Projections for the impact of

IoT on the Internet and economy are impressive, with some anticipating as many as 100 billion

connected IoT devices and a global economic impact of more than $11 trillion by 2025.

At the same time, however, the Internet of Things raises significant challenges that could stand in

the way of realizing its potential benefits. Attention-grabbing headlines about the hacking of Internet-

connected devices, surveillance concerns, and privacy fears already have captured public attention.

Technical challenges remain and new policy, legal and development challenges are emerging.

3. Analyse the issue of customer privacy invasion in the era of digital marketing

a. Difinition of privacy invasion

The term privacy is usually described as “the right to be let alone,” and is related to solitude, secrecy,

and autonomy. However, when associated with consumer activities that take place in the arena of the

electronic marketplace, privacy usually refers to personal information and the invasion of privacy is

usually interpreted as the unauthorized collection, disclosure, or other use of personal information as a

direct result of electronic commerce transactions. When it comes to the invasion of personal information

privacy, the types of personal information that are involved can be classified into two major categories

based on their nature.

On the one hand, personal information that is not expected to change dramatically over time can be

referred to as static private information, such as referential information, historical financial information,

health information, personal affiliations and beliefs, and personal documents.

Other private information includes information that changes dramatically over time, but nevertheless

can be collected and analyzed in such a way that a well-informed individual profile may be generated.

This information is referred to as dynamic personal information, such as activity history and content.

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b. How customer privacy has been invaded

By being sophisticated with technology knowledge, customer privacy has been invaded in various ways:

 Improper Collection: To collect a consumer’s private information from the Internet without

notice to or acknowledgment from the consumer. Such private information includes a consumer’s

email address, types of software the consumer uses, the consumer’s Web access history, private

files or databases, etc. Usually, improper collection will lead to improper analysis and improper

transfer.

 Improper Monitoring: To monitor (conduct surveillance on) a consumer’s Internet activities

without notice to or acknowledgment from the consumer. By using cookies, Internet marketing

businesses are able to watch where and when the consumer visits Web sites, how long the

consumer stays, and what type of transactions the consumer conducts.

 Improper Analysis: To analyze a consumer’s private information without proper notice, and to

derive conclusions from such an analysis. Such conclusions may include a consumer’s shopping

and spending patterns, shopping behaviors and preferences.

 Improper Access: To infiltrate an Internet consumer’s private computer without notice to or

acknowledgment from the consumer.

 Improper Transfer: To transfer a consumer’s private information to other businesses without

notice to or acknowledgment from the consumer. For instance, various Internet companies sell,

publish, distribute, and share their customer databases.

 Unwanted Solicitation: To transmit information to potential Internet consumers without their

acknowledgment or permission. Such privacy invasions include junk mail, mass direct email, and

junk Internet push channels.

 Improper Storage: To keep private information in a non-secure manner resulting in a lack of

trustworthiness of the stored information, or lack of authentication control for information access.

For instance, enabling individual account holders to view private information concerning other

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 accounts. Improper storage is commonly related to the concerns of information confidentiality and

data integrity.

c. Obstacles of self-protecting customer privacy

The ability to conduct law enforcement against the violators of individual privacy is very limited. Even

though many countries have enacted similar privacy protection legislation, the enforcement of such local

legislation is difficult without the aid of international treaties and collaboration since the Internet has no

national boundaries. This difficulty is reflected by the inability of some nations in trying to impose

selective censorship on the information content available on the Internet.

Today’s privacy enhancing technologies are not only primitive in nature, but also lacking the

integrated environment under which most of the Internet consumers’ privacy concerns can be dealt with.

Such technologies are often cumbersome to use, unfriendly and require a degree of knowledge exceeding

that of the common Internet consumer.

Non-negotiability: The current implementation of notice and choice is usually based on terms dictated

by the service provider, and users have to accept these terms in full to use the service. The other option,

obviously, is not to use the service.

III. Recommendation

1. Collecting customer information

An important issue of privacy in the Internet market is that the privacy of individuals must be balanced

against the interests associated with the free flow of information. Protecting privacy must be done in

conjunction with a number of other efforts. There are three main stakeholders, each playing different

roles: Government, Businesses, Individuals. To effectively collect customer information while ensuring

their privacy, I suggest businesses can do the following:

 Focusing on The Platform for Privacy Preference (P3). It will enable Internet consumers to be

informed and to make choices about the collection, use and disclosure of their private information

on the Web. Under P3 each Internet merchant will profile and register his or her own privacy

practice. In the event that an Internet consumer's privacy preferences do not match an Internet

seller's privacy practice record, the Internet consumer will be notified of the discrepancy.

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  Building a trust platform for customers. Today there are a number of trusted identity

verification services between customers and marketers such as TRUSTe, VeriSign. Customers

will not have to worry about problems such as improper information collection, improper

monitoring. Their information will actually be used for the intended purpose.

 Using Encryption. At present, the most successful and widely used technology that has had a

significant impact on the privacy concerns of Internet consumers has been cryptography.

Confidentiality of communication between the two communicating parties is dealing with, as any

observing third party can not view the contents of a message. Furthermore, encryption can also be

utilized for the purpose of protecting one's own data, since undesirable parties cannot collect

information regarding the Internet consumer.

2. Suggest solutions to build trusting relationship with customers in the digital era

The digital age opens new opportunities, but at the same time comes with new challenges. How to

attract customers, give customers the best experience but still protect their safety and privacy? Building

trust with customers is the answer to that. Here are my recommendations for businesses to build trust with

customers in the digital world:

 Set policies to protect customers' privacy and let them know about it. This will make them

feel safe.

 Encourage public customer reviews, including negative ones. Addressing negative feedback

openly will make customers feel more respected and trusted in your platform.

 Clear design and content. A well-rounded image platform, no font errors, suitable colors, and

clear information is also the first step to make customers feel more sympathetic and trusting.

 Regular content updates for your platform. When the website is always updated and refreshed,

the content will help your experience become more seamless and increase interaction with

customers.

 The promptness and timeliness. Marketers can use Chatbots to answer basic customer questions.

Fast response rate will save time, increase sympathy, build trust with customers

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IV. Conclusion

Technological advancements have ushered in the glorious era of the digital age, and with it the

expansion of the technological environment. In this research, I have come up with 3 main trends of the

technology environment. There are Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, Robotic Process

Automation (RPA), Internet of Things (IoT). Each trend has its color, but they all have in common that it

brings convenience, superiority, and solves many human problems with higher performance. However, the

positive always comes with the negative, and so do these top 3 technologies.

The rapid development of the digital age also gives rise to many new problems, including invasion of

privacy, here I refer to the audience. For self-interest purposes, customers' information has been

compromised in many ways such as Improper Collection, Improper Monitoring, Improper Analysis,

Improper Access, Improper Transfer, Unwanted Solicitation, and Improper Storage. With so many

sophisticated forms, customers have encountered many obstacles in preventing such intrusion. Not to

mention: The ability to conduct law enforcement against the violators of individual privacy is very

limited; Today's privacy enhancement technologies are not only primitive, but also lack the integrated

environment; Non-negotiability: The current implementation of notice and choice is usually based on

terms dictated by the service provider, and users have to accept these terms in full to use the service.

The difficult problem for businesses is how to collect customer information without infringing on their

privacy. In this study, I cover the following methods: Focusing on The Platform for Privacy Preference

(P3), Building a trusted platform for customers, Using Encryption. In addition, building trust with

customers is necessary for businesses, a decisive factor for their development, because when there is no

longer customer trust, businesses will also "disappear".

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 References

1. Consumer Privacy Concerns about Internet Marketing (2014) of HUAIQING WANG ,

MATTHEW K.O. LEE , AND CHEN WANG
2. Technological Environment of SEMISTER III
3. Can the obstacles to privacy self-management be overcome? Exploring the consent
intermediary approach (2017), of Tuukka Lehtiniemi and Yki Kortesniemi
4. 7 Tech Trends That Will Influence Your Marketing Strategies in 2021, of Bennett Conlin
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8564-future-of-marketing.html
5. What is artificial intelligence? of Ed Burns, Nicole Laskowski, Linda Tucci
https://searchenterpriseai.techtarget.com/definition/AI-Artificial-Intelligence
6. 7 Ways to Build Customer Trust in a Digital Era
https://www.vocalcom.com/blog/7-ways-to-build-customer-trust-in-a-digital-era/

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