Netflix is easily able to monitor customer inputs and movie preferences for each customer through the "Queue" feature on their website. For those unfamiliar, a customer is able to log into their account and create a ranked list of DVDs they want to watch. When a DVD is returned, Netflix ships the highest ranked DVD on the customer's list, assuming it's available.
Netflix also encourages customers to review and rank the movies they've seen. This information allows them to make recommendations to their users about potential movies they would enjoy based on previous reviews.
2. Where and when in the production process is the info collected and recorded (and how)?
Information is collected via the Netflix website prior to the shipment of a DVD, and Netflix subscribers are able to constantly adjust and add movies into their queue.
3. Where and when might the information be used by a different /product/service provider to enhance the ability to provide or market the service?
Since the information collected about DVD preferences is customer generated, any other firm with a similar service to offer could offer a feature to allow their potential customers to rank a given number of things. Additionally, competitors could develop a more robust system to better predict videos a customer would be interested in watching.
Netflix is actually proactively addressing this with the Netflix Prize in 2009, and the 2008 Progress Prize. Both of these "competitions" were designed by Netflix to allow open development of an algorithm that would improve accuracy and suggestions related to customer rankings.
No comments:
Post a Comment