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Data-gathering
Jun. 13th, 2006 07:01 pmIn my mailbox this evening was an invitation to join AC Nielsen's Homescan Consumer Panel. Fill out a questionnaire, then they send you a scanner to use on the UPC barcodes for all household purchases. And you earn points! And can win prizes! Just give them your privacy; they'll reward you!
No mention that there might be things that don't have barcodes (quelle horreur! not living up to my consumer potential!), such as, oh, my farm share and produce deliveries, or second-hand/bartered items.
I looked at the ( questionnaire. )
They're particularly interested in people who are younger than 30, or living on less than $25K/year, or Hispanic, or African American. I'm none of those, nor am I particularly interested in giving my privacy away. I'm not particularly representative either, I suspect, though that didn't stop them last time when they asked me to be a Nielsen TV family for a week*. A little bit of me wonders whether I should do this exactly because I'm not a typical consumer, to show that there are other styles of living that aren't focused on acquisition/expenditure nearly as much.
Nah.
* List all shows watched on any home TVs during the week. Not having one, this was rather easy.
No mention that there might be things that don't have barcodes (quelle horreur! not living up to my consumer potential!), such as, oh, my farm share and produce deliveries, or second-hand/bartered items.
I looked at the ( questionnaire. )
They're particularly interested in people who are younger than 30, or living on less than $25K/year, or Hispanic, or African American. I'm none of those, nor am I particularly interested in giving my privacy away. I'm not particularly representative either, I suspect, though that didn't stop them last time when they asked me to be a Nielsen TV family for a week*. A little bit of me wonders whether I should do this exactly because I'm not a typical consumer, to show that there are other styles of living that aren't focused on acquisition/expenditure nearly as much.
Nah.
* List all shows watched on any home TVs during the week. Not having one, this was rather easy.