Exploring the Value of Media Users’ Personal Information (PI) Disclosure to Media Companies in Flanders, Belgium

This article explores the value of media users’ personal information (PI) disclosure to media companies, from the perspective of media organizations in Flanders, Belgium. The central research questions are: 1) How do media organizations define the value of personalised products/services for media users? 2) How is value operationalized, communicated, and delivered to media users? 3) To what extent is the ‘value proposition’ (Osterwalder et al, 2014) linked to PI-collection/processing?
Applying the e-Delphi method, we surveyed twenty Flemish media professionals, advertisers and marketers. From the media companies’ perspective, personalisation primarily offers functional value to media users. Offering ease of use is more important than time-efficiency or exclusivity. Personalisation ‘benefits’ are predominantly improved service quality and user experience. 19 of 20 respondents collect PI for developing a personalised offering. Most respondents collect more PI than necessary for personalisation and the connection between PI-collection/processing is often unclear.