The brave new world of programmatic consumption
We have become familiar with the term 'programmatic', referring to algorithm-determined media planning. But the lead article in this issue introduces an even more radical concept: programmatic consumption. J Walker Smith uses the economic language of cost–benefit analysis to ingeniously describe the dramatic changes algorithms are making. The benefits of consumption are obvious, but engaging with marketing, shopping, choosing and buying are all costs to the consumer, largely unacknowledged by marketers. As the algorithms derived from big data increasingly make shopping easier and frictionless, consumer behaviour is changing, presenting a problem...