Customer's New Voice: Extreme Relevancy and Experience through Volunteered Customer Information

PART I Dawn of the New Customer

Consumers are born and subsequently brought up in a world increasingly dominated by increasingly sophisticated and friendly personal information technology (e.g., smartphones, tablets, laptops) interconnected by an increasingly pervasive Internet and mobile infrastructure. Each succeeding year, consumers are exposed earlier in their lives and are more deeply immersed in the competencies of how to leverage the information components of these technologies. Their motivation is the opportunity to leverage the information to better fulfill their needs and wants (e.g., connect with family and friends, make their lives easier, save money, do their jobs, find information). The key transformational piece is the direct connection to information, people, and organizations. This is analogous to the original vision for the Internet—to “directly connect to anything without an intermediary.”

This directness to information, people, and organizations has radically changed our lives forever and will continue to do so.