Shopper card nuisance and privacy

Shopper Report, The, Nov, 2003 by Mona Doyle

We surveyed shoppers with the following statement and question: "A woman named Katherine Albrecht is getting a lot of publicity for founding an organization called CASPIAN which stands for Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasions. She says that frequent shopper cards and RFID (product tracking) labels are terrible dangers for consumers and actually cost them money. Any thoughts about her, CASPIAN or the issues?"

Annoyance with the proliferation and nuisance of frequent shopper cards bothered more of our survey respondents than privacy issues. While many shoppers are bothered by the idea of Big Brother or big stores knowing too much about them, most shrug their shoulders with comments like "I could care less if stores know what I buy." On the other hand, some consumers feel intensely about privacy. And consumers who feel intensely about the privacy issue are more likely to make cards or the absence of cards part of their store choice decisions.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Nuisance Factor:

* "I'm glad someone is doing something about cards because they are a royal nuisance."

* "I don't want to have to carry around a wallet full of cards in case I stop at one on my way home. If the supermarkets can give us lower prices for using the card why do they need our shopping habits anyway? The cash register tells them what was purchased. I don't see offers in my mail for special deals on items I always buy, so what exactly are they looking for. The only part of it I like is using them to cash checks, which seems like a good idea with all the identity theft."

* "Low prices without cards is what I like best about Wal-Mart."

* "Cards meant getting specials when stores introduced them but now they don't mean anything unless you want to save up for a stupid turkey."

* "I could care less if stores know what I buy. I think that shopper cards are a pain because if you leave them on a different key chain or someone else gets groceries for you or the checker forgets to scan your card, you do not get the sale price and that is wrong to me. It's really false advertising and very misleading for male and older shoppers."

* "I think this organization is ridiculous! What does she mean by terrible danger? I really think she's overreacting! Someone please explain what we're supposed to be afraid of!"

The Privacy Issue:

* "I think cards do invade our privacy. I try to avoid stores that use them. Meijers doesn't."

* "I hate to get specified coupons from CVS. I feel Big Brother is watching!"

* "They do allow invasion of privacy. I prefer not using them".

* "I agree with CASPIAN completely. I hate having my purchases tracked and in some cases I've quit shopping at stores that require a card."

The Pro-Card Minority

* "I think shopper cards have saved me money when I used them on the specials directly related to using your shopping card".

Happy Thanksgiving!