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Target Case Response To Questions.. 1. The Case Describes

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Target Case Response to Questions 1. The case describes the data mining approach used by Target Corporation to predict when a woman is likely to be pregnant. What types of data/indicators would be helpful for Target to track for identifying changes in consumer buying behavior during other life stage events such as getting a divorce, leaving for college, or preparing for marriage?

According to the case, the key to identify a life stage event that will influence purchase traits/decisions are to identify relationships, hidden patterns, exceptions, and anomalies that may other wise be overlooked (Alexander 2012). There are several ways to identify a shopper who is experiencing a divorce. The first one would be deduction in quantity of goods …show more content…

There are countless traits that could indicate a divorce; however, Target should be cautious, to collect sufficient indicators, before sending a happily married couple promotions for divorced goods.

2. What considerations should a corporate executive in industries such as banking, health care, or higher education investigate when deciding on implementing a data-mining program?

As a corporate executive of a banking institution, the first step to deciding on implementing a data-mining program should be to identify the goal of the data-mining program. The goal could be to determine the potential value of a customer, or to selling the right plan to the right customer at the right time, etc.… It is also important to determine the commercial value of such goal, or how will the bank benefit from it. With clear and reasonable incentives, the executive can then examine the relevant data and/or how to collect relevant data. Keeping in mind the discussion of ethical considerations before consumers gets irritated and turns away from the institution. More importantly, the executive should strictly abide the law to avoid and breach of federal restrictions.

3. Consider the pros and cons of data mining from the corporate perspective and the customer perspective for managerial decision making. Use the table below to format the response.

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