The "health data economy": Marketing connects interests and lifestyle to improve health by Colin Milner

What is the future of marketing? If you or I could answer that question with any accuracy, we would earn a lot of money. But is it an impossible task? Well, it's not implausible for us to find indicators to guide us. As an example, we know technology will continue to play a significant role in how we learn about products and services. Algorithms are already key. Whether we're on Facebook or Netflix, what we see is driven by algorithms that take our purchasing history and match new compelling options to gain our business. Some people see algorithms, as well as Internet cookies and other things that facilitate technology-based marketing, as Big Brother-like intrusions on their privacy; others welcome this marketing as a convenience. Many marketers see the benefits. ... With its focus on interests, such marketing is about delivering the right content, service or product at the right moment. But what if the future of marketing is not just about our interests? What if it's about how those interests interact with our lifestyles to improve health and well-being? According to S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, a focus on enhancing health and well-being will drive the "health data economy," and the marketers who seek your business.