What’s the Big Deal with Big Data?

If you’re reading this, there have doubtless been many times you’ve felt as if social media sites or the internet in general are listening to you. For instance, maybe you’ve been searching for a new pair of shoes and you end up saving a few pairs in your cart without buying. You go over to Instagram, and there it is. An ad for the exact same shoes you just considered purchasing. Creepy!

While this may seem unsettling at first, it becomes less so when you realize that this is information you have put out about yourself inadvertently through your data and digital footprint, it seems less scary. Fortunately, we do usually have the choice to block websites from collecting our data. 

So why do companies need our data in the first place? Data, in this case big data, is “high volume, velocity and variety information assets” (Paharia, 2013, p. 41). Whereas in the past, companies could only collect basic data about consumers like their age, gender, and address, new technology now enables companies to collect much more complicated data. 

With this new technology, companies can use this data to “learn a lot about what you do, where you do it, when you do it, and what you like” (Paharia, 2013, p. 41). This information is incredibly useful to companies because it allows them to better understand who their audience is, leading to more effective marketing strategies and building better relationships with them.

The use of big data extends beyond the business to consumer relationship, it can also be beneficial for businesses and their employees. For instance, big data has allowed employers to better understand who hiring candidates are and whether or not they would be a good fit for the role they applied for.

Another benefit of utilizing big data in the hiring process is that it saves money from poor hiring decisions. According to business.com, “a bad hire can cost a company up to 30 percent of the employee’s annual salary and other HR agencies estimate that expense to be even higher” (Schooley, 2025, para. 10).

Big data collection and analysis can take many different forms that are used in different ways. For instance, predictive modeling uses math models existing data to determine what is the most likely outcome of a situation. Predictive modeling can be used to figure out who is most likely to buy a particular thing, which allows companies to be more direct and strategic with their marketing efforts.

Another use for big data in marketing is tracking sentiment. Essentially, this allows a company to understand the overall feeling toward a particular message or product. Knowing this allows the company to either keep doing the same thing if the sentiment is positive, or change things if the sentiment is negative. In either situation, the goal is always to understand and meet the wants and needs of the consumer to better cater to them.

Big data allows companies to go from guessing about consumer habits and preferences, to knowing precise details about a consumer’s desires, tendencies, and preferences. No longer do companies have to guess which shoe to advertise to you, that information is available to them at the click of a button!