The internet of everything : implications of marketing analytics from a consumer policy perspective

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of internet of everything (IoE) on marketing analytics, the benefits and challenges it presents and the implications of its policy and legal framework. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative research methods are used across privacy statements and consumer social media data to determine factors of concern for business and consumers. Findings: The qualitative analysis of privacy statements and consumer social media data unveils factors of concern that are common for businesses and consumers, such as user consent and data security, as well as problems specific to the IoE, including the use of mobile devices and various service providers. The study also shows a differentiation in the levels of information privacy concerns for marketing practice, the use of personal information, sharing information with third parties and consumer consent and agreement to critical terms. Practical implications: Recommendations for policymakers, practitioners and researchers, especially concerning the need for more studies related to the issues of data security, information privacy and personal information are addressed. Originality/value: There is a need to assess the potential implications that the use of marketing analytics in the IoE can have for marketing policy, governmental regulations and industry self-regulation. The purpose of this research is to perform an exploratory evaluation of the impact of IoE on marketing analytics, the benefits and challenges it presents and the implications of its policy and legal framework.