Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Introduction to Data Mining


Geographic, demographic, and psychographic behaviors are consumer data types that are researched through various data mining sources through the eyes of marketers and data analysts. Data mining, is occasionally named as “data” or “knowledge discovery;” is the process where data analysts analyze data from various perspectives and the ability to further compile and outline the data to useful information.  This information can be used for numerous objectives within corporations or elsewhere, for example it can be used to raise revenue by fluctuating prices, cut costs, or both. 

Data mining is used by a great number of professionals in diverse fields. As mentioned before, marketers use data mining material to analyze trends in consumer buying habits. In addition, it helps marketers sufficiently identify their target markets. Recently, data mining has taken a great toll on many business decisions. CEOs of several companies use historical business information to be prudent in making crucial decisions. Furthermore,the use of data mining has begun to be very essential within Scientists and Engineers. To be specific in bioinformatics, genetics, and pharmaceutical companies.

Every time you as a consumer, swipe your Harris Teeter rewards card, Bi Lo Bonus Card, or any in-house grocery store rewards card when purchasing an item to receive the current sales, data is being downloaded. Every time you become a member of a website whether it’s a social media website or signing up to receive notifications on deals/sales in the Charlotte metropolitan area (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Groupon, Living Social), your information is stored and compiled in data files in hopes of determining your likes and dislikes as a consumer. Organizations of all kinds are constantly downloading data on databases through various ways.  Normally this is how mass amounts of data are compiled for data analysts and marketers to conform the data into useful information.

A specific example of data mining is when a consumer buys a laptop online, for example. Various ads will tailor to that consumer. Particularly on Amazon, if one buys a Mac Notebook, advertisements for Mac Notebook accessories will begin to appear. Even if the consumer goes to other websites, specifically on Facebook, advertisements will tailor to what the consumer purchased or the consumer’s website history. These are very effective ways to advertise to consumers, it enables the marketers to up sale and always allow the data that the consumer is constantly feeding to determine their wants, needs, likes, or dislikes.








Citations: 
"Data Mining: What Is Data Mining?" Data Mining: What Is Data Mining? UCLA, n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2013.

Hall, Shane. "Examples Of Data Mining Vs. Traditional Marketing Research." Small Business. Chron, n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2013.

14 comments:

  1. Many big companies, such as IBM, have developed sophisticated data mining techniques that can be later used to model or predict a behavior, motion of an object under certain circumstances, or even the number of servers a company may need to process and save data based on past transactions. I think the examples exposed in this blog are really good and informative, especially the one that talks about how grocery stores save data when a costumer scans a card issued by that particular store.

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    1. Thank you for your comment. I agree, data mining techniques are used primarely to predict a behavior. Here is an interesting article on how individuals used the Web, social media, and smartphones to participate in the elections of 2012.
      http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/509026/how-obamas-team-used-big-data-to-rally-voters/

      MS.

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  2. Advances in technology make it possible for anyone including businesses and the government to track every detail of my life. We all live in a world that relays on computers. Everything that I buy is tracked, analyzed, and traded. What are companies doing to help control and crib the privacy concerns with data mining?

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    2. Laura, thank you for your comment. Your concern of piracy is a common concern that is raised when discussing data mining. Generally when you downloads an app or make a purchase you generally have to click consent to an agreement. On your phone a simple way to protect your privacy is to turn of GPS location. Also, companies are taking step to protect customer's privacy by removing any identity-related attributes from the data. The issue of privacy and data mining will be discussed further in a later blog post.

      http://isr.journal.informs.org/content/17/3/254.short

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  3. Thanks for the info, personally data mining has given Harris Teeter the ability to offer certain grocery items on specials or weekend sales. I couldnt seem to figure out why deer park water always went on sale right before my last case runs out........ scary but helpful!

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    1. Youshika, thank you for your comment. Data Mining does use personal data, but generally the companies remove person information, so that is a little comforting. Privacy is a concern and we will address this in a later blog post.

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  4. I never really understood what data mining was until I read your first blog. Thank you for the information and examples that you used!

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    1. Hannah, thank you for your comment. We hope you enjoy our new blog post this week.

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  5. Your information helps me to understand why there are lots of ads appeared in my homepage as i access the internet. I think data mining is really helpful for marketers to focus on forces affected market as well as customer and organization behavior. Therefore, many marketer use data dashboard to predict future trends in market based on stored data in the past. It is a great topic

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    2. Data Mining is definitely a growing marketing method. It will be interesting to see how it progresses in the future.

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  6. I had no idea what data mining was until this blog. Thank you for making it your first blog as the data mining. Does internet companies like Amazon and Ebay use data mining to focus on specific products to highlight? I would like to know other examples.

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    1. Michael, thank you for your comment. Companies use data mining to highlight products in your search. A big example of this is Netflix. They used Big Data and data mining to develop Netflix TV Series, based on customer's past preferences. They also use it to recommend their own shows, based on your choices.

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