By: Jennifer Buonarosa
The Internet of Things is one of the hottest topics in 2016 and is being referred to has the 4th Industrial Revolution, the convergence of digital, human, and physical domains. These internet of things are changing the way we go about our business in our everyday lives.
We can now adjust the heat in our homes from an app on our smartphones, or if we forgot to set the alarm before we left, not a problem – we can set it from our phone. This interconnectivity between things and wireless networks are providing endless options for what we will be able to control remotely. Connectivity today focuses a lot on home, health and most recently transportation, but analysts are predicting buildings and cities to enter the market as well.
Marketers are loving this new technology, as it is unlocking endless resources regarding their consumers’ purchasing habits. Marketers are able to monitor consumer behaviors more closely than ever before. They can now see what, when, how, where, and – most importantly now – why we as consumers are purchasing goods and services. Marketers can detect, sooner rather than later, when a product isn’t doing well and can make smarter decisions as to whether to continue with the product. With this technology, they can also tell if we are looking into a product and if we did not purchase, they can send a notification to our smartphone making recommendations as to why we should proceed with our purchase. They can even go as far as sending us a coupon or promotion about the item to entice us to buy. This technology is definitely a plus for marketers, but also comes with its challenges. How are these devices tracked and monitored? Just about anything these days can be connected to the internet. Analysts are suggesting that by 2020 there could be 20 to 75 billion things or devices connected. Today it is estimated that there are ten billion connected devices. How do we prevent this technology from being hijacked and losing all connectivity? There are also privacy issues as well. All of these connected devices are gathering information about us: how do we ensure that all this information is safe?
As consumers, we may love the fact that we don’t have to worry about running out of certain items because our apps will advise us when we are running low and reorder them for us with a click of a button on our phones. We can start or lock/unlock our vehicles from an app on our phone. The Apple watch and other fitness devices can calculate our every step and monitor our heart rate and transfer that information to the app on your phone and allow you to track your history. Nest is a Wi-Fi connected thermostat for your home and we can control the temperature of our home from a remote location. These are a few examples of internet of things that make our lives just a little bit easier everyday.
Are you as a consumer comfortable with all of this technology? Are you ok with all this information being collected about your daily habits? There are great convenient applications here that definitely make our lives easier, but do they come with a high price for us as consumers?
Sources:
http://www.marketingjournal.org/marketing-and-the-internet-of-things-are-you-ready-jamshed-dubash/
Marketing Discussions 
There is certainly a market for devices that track and monitor your daily activities. Personally, I think it is a positive thing for the marketer and consumer to have all this information collected by devices. Marketers get a better idea of who their customer is and what they are looking for which will generate better products that meet the needs of the consumer. Consumers can share this data across multiple platforms if they wanted to compare with friends. If you wanted to challenge your friend to see who could get more steps you could with this technology. I think this generates a community and improves the lifestyle of consumers. Although you are giving up some privacy, in return you can expect online communities and better products provided by marketers.
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Personally, I am ok with this technology. It can be a little weird sometimes, like if I am getting in my car, a notification will pop up on my phone and say “10 minutes to Merrimack”. It is weird how it knows where you are at all times, and where you’re going if your location is on. There are so many different settings on our phones now that they will always know where we are, and what are schedule is. We rely so much on our phones now, all my information is on it. Signing up for social media platforms, or giving your email to a store is basically giving them all your information. It is just a different way we live now.
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Agreed! It is very scary that your phone know what your daily pattern is and how ling it will take you to get to work or school. I do find it unsettling that big brother could be watching your every move.
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I like this technology, however at time it is weird that my phone knows exactly where I am and where I commonly go, but overall I enjoy it. With that said, I do so much on my phone anyways, this is just a more innovative way to keep me in the loop
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I believe in finding great ways to target the market you are looking for, and having the convenience of advertising for us as the consumers. I do not feel like I would feel comfortable with this technology as it would know, in broad terms, what I am doing or researching. It can be a great way to market and help advertise, but I feel though it would be invading my space and I do not believe I am okay with that.
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I would agree with you. I think the technology is great and is very useful to both marketers and the consumers but is very unsettling that there are people out there watching your every move and know all of your daily habits. I am not sure what the answer is to this because I definitely see both sides but it is unsettling.
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With evolving technology abilities and advances, marketers have increased access to their consumers’ lives. From a business’ standpoint, there are many benefits to this and they are given so much more information than they ever had before. However from a consumers’ standpoint, I do think that there are some privacy issues involved. With that being said, if marketers are able to meet their consumers’ needs more accurately and successfully, I think I am OK with the invasion of privacy on personal lives.
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I think the advances the world is making in connected technology is fascinating but I can’t say it doesn’t freak me out a little. Given that most of this technology is very new I think there are still some questions of how trustworthy the security aspect of it all can be with putting so much personal information out there. However, I think marketers should still take advantage of these new technological advances because it gives them greater consumer insight.
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I like this technology because it makes everything easier, and if we forget to do something we can do it through our phones. All this technology is very cool too. But I feel as though it is invading our privacy too much, knowing all our daily habits. Also, I feel like people will be able to hack into our cars, houses, or bank accounts if they get ahold of our cell phones, which is a major issue. Although there can be down sides to this new technology I think it would be good if marketers took advantage of it.
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I like the idea of this technology as well, but in a way it seems like Big Brother is upon us. I guess at this point in time there is no way to avoid it. I like when I am online shopping and it tells me what others have purchased with the product that I am viewing. this is great because is gives me an idea of what works good with the product that I am about to purchase. I do a lot on my phone, so knowing that technology knows where i am at all times is a little creepy, but at the same time how else am I going to get the cool geofilters on snapchat?
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For the most part I believe as technology advances and becomes more prevalent we will see a better way of life and improvement in general but I also believe that it is slowly moving towards being too invasive. Even currently I have seen pushback from consumers when it comes to how connected things like apps are and like you mentioned our information being collected, so it seems like this could be the biggest obstacle in the advancement of “The Internet of Things.” For marketers and companies I can definitely see this as an asset because they can get effective feedback on products, services, etc. as well as direct promotions towards their customers wants and needs. I think the solution will be finding a middle ground for how involved in our technical lives companies are because people could easily aggravated if they are being tracked and constantly spammed with things they aren’t even interested in. Good article and the questions you presented introduced some interesting things to consider on the topic.
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I think there are a lot of benefits to IoT but a lot of down falls as well. It is nice to be able to monitor things in your house when you are away however do I really want to take the time to update the software on my microwave or refrigerator. Also I know from working in the software field how flawed in can be. It is dangerous to run things like your car or your oven on software because a software malfunction could lead to a car getting in an accident or a oven overheating and causing a fire. The other major liability is that software is always at risk of being attacked by hackers. The last thing I want to worry about is a robber hacking my security system for my house or the pissed off teenager down the street hacking my television and changing the channel on me.
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It is a trend of the internet developing. I think this new technology give people a lot of convenience in life. It totally changed the world, and everything become very easy and convenience. However, the problem is the widely use of Internet will greatly reduce people’s natural function. People will become more and more depend on this technology.
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At times I get a little creeped out thinking that with my location on on my phone I can essentially be tracked at all times. However, I do really like the way technology is going. I like that no matter where I am I can open google maps and easily find my next location. It’s making life a lot simpler seeing as most of us carry our phones are with us more than we carry anything else.
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I agree with Megan that the idea of Internet of Things can be concerning. The consistent advertisements for home security and technology in your car are popular but this is actually the first time I’ve heard it referred to as the “Internet of Things.” With it’s own category, it makes you question and wonder just how far this technology will go. While it makes our lives easier, where do you draw the line?
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I personally love where technology is going. Everything is way easier today because of technology. Being able to get all the information you need at your fingertips in seconds is so convenient. It is a weird thought that we are all getting tracked in some way but at this point i’m pretty used to it and have accepted it.
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I loved your inclusion of the statement “the 4th industrial revolution.” It is crazy to think that I was in middle school when the first iPhones came out, and they seemed so innovative. In the last 10 years it seems as though there have been incredible and unbelievable advancements in Apple itself including the IoT. I am comfortable with this new technology to a point. I was very perplexed with my new phone when it caught on to my weekly whereabouts and mapping times. However, once I got used to it, it became helpful to know that I was “8 Minutes away from chapin street” or “26 minutes away from Merrimack College.” It’s incredibly engaging to have your smartphones follow you through your day, and definitely effective when you can link this technology to other devices such as the bluetooth in your car or iPad and laptop.
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This is definitely a great idea but I do not think it is the safest thing ever. I personally would not want to rely on technology to do everyday things for me but it could be a good thing for some people. Now a days you can’t get away with anything because you are constantly being tracked and followed this is the only thing that really concerns me but if it helps peoples lives than I am all for it.
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Technology has done millions of wonderful things to make our world better but I believe our world is becoming more consumed by technology they cant think for themselves. Technology is a double-edged sword it makes life easier but it also adds more harm then good.
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I agree with Kevin’s comment that technology can be a “double-edged” sword. Personally, I love the advances made in technology but I believe that it is taking over our lives. I prefer the human component in business and fear that technology will eliminate so many people and positions if we let it.
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This idea, called “the convergence of digital, human, and physical domains,” may make life easier for many people, but the safety of this is questionable. I don’t trust the security of many devices, and the younger generation is getting increasingly concerned with security and privacy. Many people may avoid syncing all parts of their lives and avoid this technology.
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The concept of Internet of things is really amazing and scary at the same time. I like that we may not have to think about mundane things in the future, but to know that more people than ever will have a line into our personal lives is scary. Although if you don’t give much thought to it and turn a blind eye to the information being communicated to others then it really is a cool concept. I think like all newer technology society will have a say in how far IoT evolves and to what extend the information can be shared. Personally I’m not to worried about it. I think there is more information being collected on people than we are aware of today.
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While technology is a great thing, this article does raise more questions on far will technology pry into our lives. No matter what people are always going to skeptical to new technology, but they will always by interested in the concept and the idea, just like IoT. My biggest concern is the security of importnat aspects of our lives, and how long before everyone just knows everything about everyone without having to even know them. From a marking aspect, the increase in technology is a wonderful thing, and will only help reach out to consumers. But from a consumers perspective how long before we block out every marketing attempt thrown at us every second. Great questions, to really get us thinking about ” IoT”!
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I am not comfortable with this technology for the most part. Of course, advancements in technology is usually for positive reasons but they do not always work. I personally have some equipment at work that order parts themselves when they are in need. However, I get deliveries on a weekly basis from some of these pieces of equipment. My recommendation is that companies should perform adequate testing before releasing these “smart” pieces of technology.
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IoT is more than smart homes and connected appliances, however. It scales up to include smart cities – think of connected traffic signals that monitor utility use, or smart bins that signal when they need to be emptied – and industry, with connected sensors for everything from tracking parts to monitoring crops.
Everything new and shiny has downsides, and security and privacy are the biggest challenges for IoT. All these devices and systems collect a lot of personal data about people – that smart meter knows when you’re home and what electronics you use when you’re there – and it’s shared with other devices and held in databases by companies.
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