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Did you know that the number of adoptions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has increased exponentially over the past five years? These IoT devices are things you can see in your everyday life, such as smartwatches that track your fitness and health data, smart home’s devices that allow you to control appliances, and other devices remotely from anywhere through an internet connection.
Shifting to smartphones has changed the way you communicate with others, internet usage and online activities such as social networking activities (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), using online applications and online shopping.
Usage data collection from these IoT devices provides valuable information about customer behavior, interests and preferences. Thus, the concept of Internet of Behavior (IoB) was born.
What is the Internet of Behavior (IoB)?
According to Gartner Inc, a technological research and consulting firm, it is said that “The Internet of Behavior collects the digital dust of people’s lives from a variety of sources, and public or private organizations can use this information to influence behavior”
In a human psychology’s opinion, it is said that “The IoB concept seeks to address how to understand data properly and apply that understanding to create and promote new products”
Let’s see user behavior on web application. For example, when you do online shopping on a laptop or search for a product on your smartphone, the data will differ in how the actions you take on the website; searching for products, clicking the buttons, scrolling backward and forward, or staying on a page for a long time. These data can be collected as behavioral data for behavioral analysis and they become “Big Data” concept. Then IoB appears in the next step.
IoB is a process by which user data is analyzed through a behavioral psychology perspective. With the results of this analysis, it brings about new approaches to the development of user experience (UX), search experience optimization (SXO), end products and services development and promotion development.
The following is some of the benefits of Internet of Behavior:
- To analyze customer purchasing and spending habits across all platforms
- To study about how customers interact with devices and products
- To gain insights of a customer journey. For example, what do your customers want and through which channel? How to make a brand impression on your customers? And how do you make your customers decide to buy your products?
- To provide real-time point of sale (POS) notifications and advertising
- To quickly resolve problems to close a sale and satisfy your customers
The adoption of IoB is a factor that contributes to business success. Many businesses have applied IoB concept these days:
- BMC company, an IT services and consulting, and Enterprise software company has developed a health application for smartphones that tracks and collects personal health data (diet, sleeping patterns, heart rate or blood sugar levels). This app can notify users about their current health condition and suggest behavioral modifications for better health.
- Unacademy, an online education startup, uses IoB concept to help users plan online courses to suit their needs and future career plans.
- Intel Corporation uses IoB in facial recognition to study employee behavior and use it as risk criteria in risk assessment for business operations.
- PwC uses IoB to track employee performance for remote work (WFH).
- Facebook and Google use behavioral data to display the interesting advertisements for users. This helps the businesses effectively connect with their target audience and increases CTR (the number of clicks on the ads divided by impressions).
- Youtube utilizes users’ behavioral data analytics to improve the user experience and recommend videos or playlists that they are more likely to be interested in.
Collecting and analyzing customer behavioral data may provide you many benefits, but on the other hand, these data are customers’ information, so there is a controversy regarding data privacy. This is because of the full enforcement of the PDPA, which is a law that protects your personal data.
Moreover, there are also concerns about cybersecurity to protect data theft. Especially when your information is leaked or cybercriminals steal your data, it may be used for malicious purposes.
In conclusion, technology has both advantages and disadvantages. To adopt IoB technology for business benefits, you must also consider the data security, ethic and the consumers’ reliability in your data storing and processing.
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