1. ABSTRACT

In the present time, we spend from three to nine hours on our electronic devices and the internet, surfing through various websites and social media/networking platforms. We are blinded by the inclinations and updates of social media and various platforms; we tend to ignore the advertisement-based targets. Under the perspective of these platforms, the consumer perceives the content through advertisements and sponsored displays to be the feature of the website visited. Whereas, it is the growth hacking of our browser history, broadcasting content the consumer has earlier researched for or spoken of. This research paper is a detailed and comprehensive study of the marketing strategies that various companies and networking platforms showcase in order to widen their consumer area. There are various kinds of cookies present on every website, acting as a preserving tool of information, on the other hand, and creating content through browser history for increasing the website’s insights and widening their networks in the market. This collected data is seldom sold to internet providers and companies as an exchange of services, endorsing effective marketing strategies by tracking down customers’ information.

Keywords: Marketing Strategies, Browser History, Advertisement, Privacy, Social Media and Network.

2. Introduction

The digital universe allows providers on a larger weighbridge to collect and store data of the consumer’s behaviour on the internet and their purchasing power. That creates difficulty because it becomes harder for the consumer to remain unidentified because of the fact that online actions can be tracked and hoarded.

This simplified way of tracking customers and companies’ ability to store data, signifies that the control and responsibility of personal information are transferred from the   consumer   to the service provider. The targeted advertisement is a pattern of turning in individualized classified ads pertaining to customers in preference to enterprising the same sales promotions to everyone. Personalization for client concentrated tactics across different platforms and devices has become a great challenge as well as has seen a surge through firms looking for marketing efficiency.

As the overall internet becomes pervasive, companies can turn a profit from many methods and strategies to connect with customers. the current detonation of access will unseal immense marketing alternatives, but it will also superimpose big demanding situations and disputes. Planning a persuasive website can be difficult along with using a personalization program to modify as per expectations, however, from an individual consumer’s perspective may still be tough. Presently, there tend to be unending suggestions, and the accessibility of product information and the chance to compare the increase in production and sales, it is pertinent for companies to customize their marketing strategies to broaden their prospectus.

Having a look from the perspective of the consumer, related individualized notifications may influence the purchasing ambitions in a positive approach at the same time as advertisements along with reduced relevancy indicates vexation for the consumer. Despite the fact that high-relevance advertisements can prompt positive effects, there may be controversy on how the tracing and collecting of personal data are regulated externally inducing complaints of the customers.

3. Review of Literature

1. Yan J. et al, 2019³ in its report incorporates a comprehensive study of the technique of behavioural targeting, used by companies to target audience and increase the effectiveness of their social media campaigns. It shows the impact on the consumer behaviour by creating targeting advertisements through search
2. Zhang Y. et al, 2017⁴ this research paper is a report of the various targeting strategies of the companies, acting as a medium of exchange of data to the right publishers of the advertisements through websites and link pages. It is a framework of the audience demographics and purchasing power of the consumer having in the market.

3. Pierson J.,& Heyman R., 2011⁵ in its report analyses the new kinds of social media communication and improvements empower the This paper beautifully sketches out the concept of social media and its relativity with cookies, further calling out the challenges our privacy is a threat to.
4. Fridh D., & Dahl T., 2019⁶ this report is a comprehensive and elaborative study of the improvements made in the marketing techniques, based on the preferences and needs of the consumer. This is to understand the perspective of the consumer on personalised marketing strategies and its effects on purchasing and consumer
5. Murphy J. & Hofacker C.F., 2004⁷ this report is a brief and straightforward study based on relationship between the online consumers on websites and digital Analysing data collected by revisiting a website and site traffic affecting the consumer.
6. Fan X. et al, 2015⁸ this report is an intricate study of the web use and the data websites secure while a person visits one It expands to explain profiling and identification of the web user, number of times the customer visits the page and the number of times the customer open the promotions on the webpage.
7. Bregstrom, 2015⁹ this report is a detailed study to help readers understand the growing concerns of privacy. The invasive manipulation and customisation of the data collected through browser history of personal information may have a heavy impact of the customer in the society and in political rallies.
8. Martin, K. D., & Murphy, P. E., 2016¹⁰ this research paper captures the concerns of privacy in all disciplines. How the privacy related issues are affected by psychology, effects on the economic principles, and the social It is a comprehensive study from broad perspectives for a deeper understanding of the role of privacy and highlighting multidimensional strategies.

9. Cai, H. et al, 2019¹¹ this report incorporates the descriptive study of trading on social media which attracts businesses across the globe. The data plays a role of a medium of exchange, the data secured from browser history of the web has a very high value, to target the audience in its marketing strategies. This form of trading of data causes a serious concern to the privacy an
10. Oh, J., & Lee, S., 2011¹² this report shows the collection and tracking of information through browser history. Web browsers are the most important part of the Internet, making it huge source and bearer of information across the world. Causing harm to the privacy, marketing techniques also resort to criminal and unethical

4.Research Methodology

This research paper is an incorporation of three spheres of perspectives, first; analysing the concept of tactical marketing, the concept of targeting audience to grow business through browser history via advertisements and emails. The second prospect is the breach in privacy of the consumer utilizing and demanding the service and product. The third component is the implementation of the marketing strategies. Primarily, to understand better we conducted an interview with the Senior Software Engineer at Nykaa Mr. Purushartha Srivastava, to analyse why and how do the marketing strategies affect the consumer. Consequently, an online survey was conducted to understand view points and perspectives of various individuals. This research paper is based on both qualitative and quantitative research to have a clear understanding.

Hypothesis

Businesses and companies resort to tactical marketing strategies to grow in the market and maintain their stand, by targeting the customer through demographic influence.

5.Objectives of the Study

• To understand the marketing strategies of companies for magnifying and broadening their
• To understand the impact these marketing strategies have on its
• To understand the implementation procedure and limitations through this

6. Research Method

The research paper is an incorporation of primary and secondary data directing and understanding the opinions of various individuals and experts in the field. Our primary data is grounded on an interview with a professional Software Engineer of Nykaa, a privately held company, cantered by the production of lifestyle and beauty. Likewise, the survey was constructed on an open platform with a 35 participants through a questionnaire on Google forms. The secondary sources are journals, research paper of intellectuals, national and international daily news reports and multiple articles incorporating statistics.

7. Findings and Discussions

7.1  Marketing Strategies

Social media advertising is a type of internet advertising found on social networking destinations like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Emails, and various websites. Advertising on social media platforms can appear as immediate showcase of promotions bought on social platforms, self-served advertising through inner advertisement organizations, and advertisement picked up from the browser history of the consumer.

Ads and promotions are demographically put-together that show up with respect to pages and are identified with a client’s browser history. This is a decent technique to use to construct familiarity with a product or administration and to catch contact data connected to as essentially planned target its audience. It’s likewise a drawn-out technique and it’s significant for a company to comprehend what is that drives a customer to their site.

The discernment is by and large dependent on assumptions. Regardless of whether the consumer sees something as certain or negative assumes a significant part of the ad relevant, the consumer considers it to be as good or ominous. Assumptions can likewise be outperformed if the consumer feels that there as many options and alternatives for the consumer, of the one product consumer wishes to purchase.

The following advanced path permits companies to customize messages towards consumers. Companies need to attract and understand their consumers and their online conduct and browser history supposes a critical part in the procedure of online customized marketing, which is important to make an applicable message towards consumers.

Companies regularly implement social targeting procedures to market to consumers dependent on their online conduct. Brands increment the adequacy of their missions by catching information on web guests who visit their site points of arrival. Sites distinguish guests by relegating a remarkable ID treat to every single guest to the site. This permits the stage to follow clients all through their web excursion and settle on rules-based choices about what substance to serve.

7.2  Breach of Privacy

Breach of privacy is chiefly a breach of classification, encroachment, or infringement of any privilege to privacy including, yet not restricted to, a breach of your privacy strategy, breach of an individual’s privilege of exposure, bogus light, interruption upon an individual’s confinement, public revelation of an individual’s private data.

The web is become an enormous stage for focused promoting. Programs and different organizations currently have begun utilizing the program history or the path of the relative multitude of visited locales or looked through things of the clients to present focused on promotions.

Cookies are little content records that save data on your nearby internet browser. Imagined in 1994, cookies were intended to make internet perusing simpler, to some degree via auto-filling URLs and online structures. As innovation has advanced, however, organizations and people have begun to utilize cookies to gather data on others. Programs like Google places at least one cookies on every client’s PC, which is utilized to follow an individual’s web perusing on an enormous number of random sites and track their search history.

Most sites today utilize a rendition of cookies called following cookies, which assemble bits of knowledge on your inclinations, interests, and online propensities, at that point send the data back to a worker for examination. As indicated by a 2018 study from Arm Treasure Data, 52% of buyers think there ought to be no justification organizations to gather their own data.

Tragically, numerous sites store clients’ cookies without their knowledge or consent. They at that point utilize the data accumulated from cookies to make computerized personas, send focused on advertisements, and clergyman the substance you see on the web.

Before individuals could get to the web on their telephones, online privacy security applied uniquely to PC use. At the point when the principal rendition of the IPhone dispatched in 2007, however, a large number of individuals could go online at whatever point and any place they needed. The capacity to send messages, lead examination, and shop from a telephone gave clients a freshly discovered sensation of opportunity, however it likewise diminished individual privacy. As cell phones have kept on propelling, individuals invest increasingly more energy associated with the web on their telephones. Basic exercises like perusing the web and examining web-based media increment the measure of time organizations need to follow your computerized movement.

7.3  Implementations

Contextual promotions can be operated to supplement the service or the product, instead of advertising depends on a person’s distinguished preferences or past browser history, subsequently, which frequently leaves the consumers with that frightful inclination they’re being kept an eye on. In certain research and studies, contextual targeting has been found to build buy expectation by up to 63%. In this way, the connection between consumer and friends are of significance and past encounters get essential in the general methodology of customized marketing. The past experience and reviews of the customer is assumed as an important part in the consumer buy aims online since it is an urgent factor in the consumer’s perspective on the kind of service or product to be purchased. Fast advanced improvements amongst the companies lead rivalry and negative competition in the market. Companies are presently ready to collaborate with their objective of gaining consumers through a productive way and the expanded numbers of accessible correspondence channels have empowered companies to arrive at customers around the world. Versatile applications represent a specific test. At the point when you download and utilize an application, you may need to give the application authorization to get to data on your telephone, similar to your area or photographs. Conceding applications admittance to certain data can be useful, however numerous applications request authorization to see your own data in any event, when you’re not utilizing the application.

• Findings

7.4.1  Survey Findings

In a few words, what do you like/dislike about these marketing strategies?

7.4.2  Interview Findings

Conduct of an interview with the Senior Software Engineer. The Nykaa team have been operational right from phase 1 of the lockdown because we sell essentials on our website. The government defines essentials to include shampoos, skincare, like moisturisers, and we have a lot of personal care, skincare and haircare products, which are considered everyday essentials. The website was converted to sell these products and through that process, we began phase-1, where we recorded some turnover, which was 10%-15% of our business as usual. The team has a very good understanding of what their business is, and what they are good at. Nykaa uses a high end content to showcase the global trends that has proved a winning formula for the brand name. People consume content and this is the reason Nykaa has established a good team for its content strategy. Nykaa uses various social media platforms for lead generation and then gives offers and discounts to convert it into sales. Subsequently, they are continuously growing every year and always won the trust and faith of their customers.

8. Conclusion

Tracking methods like internet cookies have the tendency to collect data from our browsing history from web site to the computing device. Marketers along with ad-tech service providers collect that data to target consumer across all devices and platforms of the web and even to the extent of tracking what a significant customer or consumer of the service is thinking about buying something but does not eventually follow up to, so through these advertisements and sales promotions, companies try to chase the customer around so that the consumer ends up purchasing the product. The collection of user data for promoting and convincing consumers is also an issue, and protection needs to be provided to consumers against deceptive ads to prevent an invasion of privacy. The balance between providing a competitive environment and consumer security must be achieved in online advertising to maintain a fair commercial environment.

9. Recommendations

At the same time while this is a step in the right direction there needs to be more consumer and user awareness about people’s right to privacy and the protection of their identities, one way to disseminate such information is by creating user friendly content which is easy to understand even for people not well acquainted with technology, one such example is of making people aware that most websites like Instagram, Facebook and even Google have options within their settings to switch off the collection of data for targeted ads.

10.  Limitations and Future Scope

While we look closer to home, we’ll realise that currently, in India, there is no central statutory agency that can regulate the advertising industry and have uniform legislation. The advertising industry is regulated in India through a non-statutory body known as the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). The need of the hour is to constitute such a body and frame legislation to regulate this growing industry before the judiciary must step in and deal with issues that will inevitably arise with the rapid growth of digital marketing.

One of the key factors in determining the future of marketing based on a user’s browser history depends on the footsteps of companies like Google that are giants in the space and accounted for a revenue stream of $147 billion, and on a positive note revealed that it’s going to stop targeting online ads based on a user’s browsing history. It further mentioned that “people shouldn’t have to accept being tracked across the web to get the benefits of relevant advertising. And advertisers don’t need to track individual consumers across the web to get the performance benefits of digital advertising”.

11. Appendix

Interview questions asked Mr. Purushartha Srivastava, Senior Software Engineer.

1. What is the your role in Nykaa, and how has the pandemic affected it ?
2. Is your team and working environment supportive of you?
3. How are you and your colleagues in this department coping up and the challenges faced?
4. What are the marketing strategies that you ponder on while advertising?
5. How do you think those strategies affect the sales of the product or services that your company provides?
6. Are the present policies and terms of conditions have any adverse effect on the consumer or the customer?
7. What in your opinion, these marketing strategies been a boon or bane for the company?

Questions of the Survey

Q1. Age :                                       

Q2. How much time do you spend on your electronic device ? ( Phone, Laptop, I pad, Tablet, Etc. )

Answer. 1 hours, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 hours

Q3. What is your screen time on Social Media applications?

Answer. 1 hours, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 hours

Q4. Which browser do you prefer/use the most?

Answer. 1. Safari

2. Google Chrome
3. Firefox
4. Other: Do you always research before purchasing a product or service?

Answer. 1. Yes

2. No
3. Sometimes
4. Always

Q6. What are the social media/networking platforms you use the most ?

Answer. 1. Instagram

2. Snapchat
3. WhatsApp
4. Facebook
5. Twitter
6. LinkedIn

Other:                                                                                                                                     Q7. Do advertisements of the products/services you have browsed or spoken of, appear on these applications?

Answer. 1. Yes

2. No
3. Sometimes
4. Always

Q8. How often do you see these advertisements ?

Answer. 1. Very Often

2. Often
3. Rarely
4. Very Rarely

Q9. Do you open these advertisements or purchase through visiting them ?

Answer. 1. Yes

2. No
3. Sometimes
4. Always

Q10. Do you feel it is uncanny (strange, mysterious or unsettling)

Answer. 1. Yes

2. No
3. Sometimes
4. Always

Q11. In a few words, what do you like/dislike about these marketing strategies?

12. References

Yan, J. et al (2019, January). How much can behavioural targeting help online advertising? Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221023382_How_much_can_behavioral_targeting_he lp_online_advertising

Zhang Y. et.al, (2017, November 15). Targeted Advertising Based on Browsing History. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321069604_Targeted_Advertising_Based_on_Browsi ng_History

Pierson, J., & Heyman, R. (2011, September). Social media and cookies: Challenges for online privacy. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235289770_Social_media_and_cookies_Challenges_f or_online_privacy

Fridh, D., & Dahl, T. (2019, April). A consumer perspective of personalized marketing. Retrieved from https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1333116/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Murphy J, Hofacker C F., (2004, November 1) A Methodology and Investigation of an eLoyalty Metric, Consumer Bookmarking Behavior, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Volume 10, Issue 1, JCMC1019, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083- 6101.2004.tb00235.x

Fan, X., Chow, K., & Xu, F. (2015). Web User Profiling Based on Browsing Behavior Analysis. Web User Profiling Based on Browsing Behavior Analysis, 57–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44952-3_5ff.

Bregstrom, A. (2015). Online privacy concerns: A broad approach to understanding the concerns of different groups for different uses. Online Privacy Concerns: A Broad Approach to Understanding the Concerns of Different Groups for Different Uses. Published. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.025

Martin, K. D., & Murphy, P. E. (2016). The role of data privacy in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(2), 135–155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-016-0495-4

Cai, H., Ye, F., Yang, Y., Zhu, Y., & Li, J. (2019). Towards privacy-preserving data trading for web browsing history. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Quality of Service.

Published. https://doi.org/10.1145/3326285.3329060

Oh, J., Lee, S., & Lee, S. (2011). Advanced evidence collection and analysis of web browser activity. Digital Investigation, 8, S62–S70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diin.2011.05.008

Laws of digital advertising | Lexology. (2021). Retrieved 4 June 2021, from https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=3ed4bf3b-0eec-4c6b-8e93-601f918e58c

Dwivedi, Y., Ismagilova, E., Hughes, D., Carlson, J., Filieri, R., & Jacobson, J. et al. (2021). Setting the future of digital and social media marketing research: Perspectives and research propositions. International Journal Of Information Management, 59, 102168. doi: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102168

Kenny, D., & Marshall, J. (2000). Contextual Marketing: The Real Business of the Internet. Retrieved 4 June 2021, from https://hbr.org/2000/11/contextual-marketing-the-real-business-of- the-internet

Mirowski, C. (2018). Is Social Media Eavesdropping on Your Conversations?. Retrieved 4 June 2021, from https://www.treehousemarketing.com/about/blog/35889-is-social-media- eavesdropping-on-your-conversations.html

The Digital Marketing Guide to Web Cookies | Target Internet. (2021). Retrieved 4 June 2021, from https://www.targetinternet.com/digital-marketing-guide-to-cookies/

Thorp, J. (2021). How Does My Browser Know Which Ads to Show Me? (And Why Is That Bad?). Retrieved 4 June 2021, from https://builtin.com/marketing/targeted-ads

¹ (Student of B.B.A LL.B at Symbiosis Law School, Pune (Batch of 2025)

² (Student at Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi (Batch of 2022)

³ Yan, J. et al (2019, January). How much can behavioural targeting help online advertising? Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221023382_How_much_can_behavioral_targeting_help_online_advertisi ng

⁴ Zhang Y. et.al, (2017, November 15). Targeted Advertising Based on Browsing History. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321069604_Targeted_Advertising_Based_on_Browsing_History

⁵ Pierson, J., & Heyman, R. (2011, September). Social media and cookies: Challenges for online privacy. Retrieved from. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235289770_Social_media_and_cookies_Challenges_for_online_privacy ⁶ Fridh, D., & Dahl, T. (2019, April). A consumer perspective of personalized marketing. Retrieved from https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1333116/FULLTEXT01.pdf

⁷ Murphy J, Hofacker C F., (2004, November 1) A Methodology and Investigation of an eLoyalty Metric, Consumer Bookmarking Behavior, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Volume 10, Issue 1, JCMC1019, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2004.tb00235.x

⁸ Fan, X., Chow, K., & Xu, F. (2015). Web User Profiling Based on Browsing Behavior Analysis. Web User Profiling Based on Browsing Behavior Analysis, 57–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44952-3_5ff.

⁹ Bregstrom, A. (2015). Online privacy concerns: A broad approach to understanding the concerns of different groups for different uses. Online Privacy Concerns: A Broad Approach to Understanding the Concerns of Different Groups for Different Uses. Published. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.025

¹⁰ Martin, K. D., & Murphy, P. E. (2016). The role of data privacy in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(2), 135–155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-016-0495-4

¹¹ Cai, H., Ye, F., Yang, Y., Zhu, Y., & Li, J. (2019). Towards privacy-preserving data trading for web browsing history. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Quality of Service. Published. https://doi.org/10.1145/3326285.3329060

¹² Oh, J., Lee, S., & Lee, S. (2011). Advanced evidence collection and analysis of web browser activity. Digital Investigation, 8, S62–S70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diin.2011.05.008