Hard-Wired for Chocolate and Hybrid Cars? How Genetics Affect Consumer Choice

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100920173004.htm

The authors studied twins' consumer preferences to determine whether or not certain behaviors or traits have a genetic basis. "A greater similarity in behavior or trait between identical than between fraternal twins indicates that the behavior or trait is likely to be heritable," the authors explain.

"The current research suggests that heritable and other hard-wired inherent preference components play a key role in behavior and deserve much more attention in marketing and decision-making research," the authors write.

 Itamar Simonson and Aner Sela. On the Heritability of Consumer Decision Making: An Exploratory Approach for Studying Genetic Effects on Judgment and Choice.Journal of Consumer Research, April 2011 [link]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/why-your-dna-is-a-goldmine-for-marketers/article6293064/


As for Prof. Pike, he believes marketers should have an individual’s explicit consent to use their DNA to customize ads. “If the choice is between random ads … and targeted ads that might actually have some appeal, then I’d probably prefer to be exposed to the latter.” He’s skeptical that marketers will ever be able to use his genetic profile to discern his taste in vacations, but he’s certain of one thing: “Marketers are expert at data mining, and if there is data that can be mined then I’m confident that they’ll try to do so.”