Sent in by Liz Yockey, who signed it for GroupOn, it is kind of interesting that all the site thinks it needs to know about you is your sex and your age to send you local coupons that suit you.
Are you just like every other n-something f or m you know? Are we so predictable? Perhaps marketers know better than we. What do you think?
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 13
T — February 6, 2011
For the purposes of marketing and 'speaking to' the largest market segment at one time... unequivocally, YES.
I think it's safe to say that every counter argument will concern 20% or less of the population.
Lauren — February 6, 2011
I have resisted filling out those two little fields just because I feel like there are already way too many spa deals, and I don't want more. I want dinner and museum and theater coupons, and stuff -- which gender should I select to get stuff like that? :P
Tepsidell — February 6, 2011
Age and gender alone, no, but along with zip code, marketers can make fairly accurate guesses about race, income/class, etc.
Magnetic Crow — February 6, 2011
I'm pretty sure it's actually for demographic study purposes, in this case. My mate and I (male and female) are both signed up for Groupon, and get identical Groupons sent to us. I think this is more about figuring out whether hosting a spa coupon in a particular area will be successful, based on the age/gender demographic in that region.
Still a hell of a lot of stereotyping going on, but at least it doesn't seem to target individuals based on gender, the way facebook ads do (for example).
ambrown — February 6, 2011
I wanted to second Tepsidell's comment. While age and gender might help an advertising firm whittle down some basic interests of the individual, being able to pinpoint a zipcode gives the marketers a wealth of information.
Check out how much information can be pulled (for free! with one click on google!) for a zipcode in my home of Portland, Oregon.
http://zipskinny.com/index.php?zip=97201
Household income, employment status, marriage status, educational achievement...it's all there. Each of the United States' zipcodes includes relatively homogeneous groups of neighborhoods; compare an inner city zip code with a rural one, or even with a nearby suburb and a far-out exurb, and you will note that these statistics vary wildly. And as I mentioned earlier, all of this information is free! For discount coupon/spam distributors with more clout and resources, there exists countless data points about consumption preferences, voting histories, religious affiliations per zip code if the firms have the financial resources to pay for the demographic consulting.
So in short, yes, i'm sure that gender and age are being used by this company to profile people down, and i have no doubt that a 60-something female is likely to click on ads similar to other 60-something females than to me, a 20-something male. But i would beware discounting the heavily influential zip code data, which carries a bewilderingly large amount of information baggage with it.
Maverynthia — February 6, 2011
I HOPE that putting my sex down there will make sure I don't get any coupons for "natural male enhancement" and might offer me coupons on pads or tampons.
That's about it...
If it's trying to suggest coupons for chocolate over.. let's say.. beef jerky. Then I might have a problem with it. Even coupons for nails, hair, and other gendered things would be considered offensive to me if they weren't offered to the M sex. So really that NOT all they need to know about me.
Byron — February 7, 2011
I'd put it another way: That's all the site thinks you will be patient enough to answer (at the moment anyway).
They'd *love* for you to fill out a highly detailed questionnaire, but so few do so they'd never get enough data to be commercially usable. That of course is why Facebook and such are a marketer's dream; Everyone volunteering far more detailed profile information then they'd ever do otherwise.
Jen — February 7, 2011
OH CRAP. I thought everyone got the same deals. That explains why I get stupid spa stuff or wine bar coupons and nothing for beer, which is what I was hoping for.
Valentin — February 7, 2011
If an advertiser was trying to sell bras, it would really like to aim only at women.
Meera — February 7, 2011
I signed up with an age that is a couple decades above my real one, hoping I would get more 'cultural'-type offers and fewer related to exercise or other physical activity (I have a disability). Hard to say if that's been the case, though.
It would be more helpful if I could specify things like 'no food/restaurant offers with animal products' and 'no beauty/spa-related offers'.
Gusto — May 25, 2012
Marketing doesn't target through causation, but by correlation. It's the by invite only parties for booze and cigarrette companies that worry me - because they segregate according to whatever suits them. Then they will tailor the music and food to the crowd that they expect that night. So race may correlate well with hip hop as musical preference, but causation is completely ignored.