The views of South African marketers concerning consumer privacy

Abstract

As part of the transition to democracy, the South African government has expressed its intention to table the Open Democracy Bill, which addresses the issue of the collection and dissemination of personal information. This bill will, in its present form, severely damage the direct marketing industry in South Africa. A literature review of consumer privacy has been completed. A survey of 246 marketers was undertaken. The results show that there are two distinct clusters, a pro-privacy group and an anti-privacy one. In this article some conclusions are developed that are of interest to policy makers and managers.