Quote from: Watching Consumers Who Are Watching Themselves Get Watched

“The gist of the study: Two-thirds of Americans “do not want marketers to tailor advertisements to their interests” — and the proportion goes up when people find out exactly what sort of behavioral-tracking stuff marketers and media companies have been up to lately (see abstract below).”

—Watching Consumers Who Are Watching Themselves Get Watched - Advertising Age - The Media Guy

No matter how you slice and dice it, asking people about their opinion of any targeting will inevitably show a very negative reaction.

I think that the reason is simpler than it seems. Targeting, especially behavioral targeting, is essentially perceived as manipulation. Admitting that you don’t mind being manipulated by Big Business is a sign of weakness. How could you admit that?

If you ask the question a bit differently, let’s say “Would you be interested in getting access to exclusive rebates for products that match your interests?” might give a different result.