Publication Date May 26, 2015
As millions of consumers carry on unaware, powerful corporations race to collect more and more data about our behaviors, needs, and desires. This massive trove of data represents one of the most valuable assets on the planet.
In All You Can Pay, Anna Bernasek and D.T. Mongan show how companies use what they know about you to determine how much you are willing to pay for everything you buy. From college tuition to plane tickets to groceries to medicine, companies already set varying prices based on intimate knowledge of individual wants and purchasing power. As the consumer age fades into history, rapidly changing prices and complex offers tailored to each individual are spreading like a fog over the free market. Data giants know everything about us before we enter stores or open websites. We may think that the Internet lets us find the best deals, but the extensive information held by companies means that the price we see tends toward the maximum they determine we can pay. In a momentous shift, the economics of information will turn our economy on its head.
Bernasek and Mongan offer a dire warning. These trends are alarming and, if left unchecked, the destination is clear. But there is still time to protect ourselves, Bernasek and Mongan reveal, by taking action. We can choose a better path and this illuminating book shows how.
In All You Can Pay, Anna Bernasek and D.T. Mongan show how companies use what they know about you to determine how much you are willing to pay for everything you buy. From college tuition to plane tickets to groceries to medicine, companies already set varying prices based on intimate knowledge of individual wants and purchasing power. As the consumer age fades into history, rapidly changing prices and complex offers tailored to each individual are spreading like a fog over the free market. Data giants know everything about us before we enter stores or open websites. We may think that the Internet lets us find the best deals, but the extensive information held by companies means that the price we see tends toward the maximum they determine we can pay. In a momentous shift, the economics of information will turn our economy on its head.
Bernasek and Mongan offer a dire warning. These trends are alarming and, if left unchecked, the destination is clear. But there is still time to protect ourselves, Bernasek and Mongan reveal, by taking action. We can choose a better path and this illuminating book shows how.