Must Beware – In “his” 2003 book How Customers Think

In “his” 2003 book How Customers Think, Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman writes that marketers and senior executives should remember that it’s not the data that speaks for itself, but the people. For example, CNN reported that Hershey, maker of the ubiquitous and iconic Hershey bars, Reese’s Chunks and Reese’s Peanut Cups, has data showing that areas of the country with a high prevalence of Covid 19 chocolate also have high chocolate sales. Dorr explained that it is a poor approach to rely on data without evaluating it and without knowing “why” people behave the way they do. Hershey used data to focus on understanding the “why.” Hershey used data to understand what determines the connection between coronavirus and chocolate. Hershey’s data showed that milk chocolate areas with multiple Covid displays saw a 40-50% increase in demand for milk chocolate. Hershey marketers used the data as a platform for creativity, not creativity itself. In the Bloomberg article, Justin Fox writes that Professor Miller criticizes our belief in the primordial power of data. Amazon’s data doesn’t seem to care that time passes, kids grow up, and a set of gift tags is enough. The data showed a correlation, but couldn’t tell Hershey “why.” The problem with using data to replace judgment is that we only focus on the “what” and not the “why.” Data can support decision making, but it cannot make decisions. On the other hand, for all of Amazon’s wonderful personalization, time is not included in data. For example, one appliance company has seen data showing that noise is a big problem with vacuum cleaners. Fox noted that Professor Miller is not the only one concerned about data dependence. Data doesn’t account for mission, context, politics, or priorities; people do. In Schoenberger and Kukier’s seminal book, Big Data, published in 2013, the authors note that data can lead to both understanding and misunderstanding.