MARKETING CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT FOR DATA PRIVACY, DATA BREACH MANAGEMENT AND CUSTOMER TRUST

This paper presents a curriculum that addresses the following data privacy and data breach management issues that undermine customer trust in the firm:
(1) Impact of data breaches on customer trust of the firm,
(2) Size and scope of data breaches,
(3) Reasons for business failure to address customer privacy and data breaches, and
(4) Elements of a curriculum for Internet Marketing Resiliency (IMR) for data privacy, data security and data breach management.

Why is a Program of Data Privacy and Data Breach Management Necessary?
The current marketing literature is weak in educating students on the threats to consumer trust that result from digitization of commerce. One of the major corporate and executive concerns is cybercrime and the continuing data breaches that threaten the customer trust for the firm. Current surveys indicate only 1 in 6 of consumers have a great deal trust or quite a lot of trust in companies that only do business on line. Over 60 % of consumers are dissatisfied with data breach notification and response and just over 30% terminated their relationship with the organization, while over 50% lost trust and confidence in the breached firm.

Why Do Firms Fail to Address Information Security Issues:
IT security is mainly seen as a cost not as a source of competitive advantage. Also, there is a lack of understanding of threats to customer privacy and security and the impact on the firm.

A Concentration in Internet Marketing Resiliency:
The program contains the following six courses:
• Business Data Communications
• Internet Marketing
• Marketing Research Techniques and Applications
• Competitive Intelligence and Information Security
• Marketing Management
• Special Topics in Marketing (address issues of business continuity planning)

Resources for the Program:
Competitive Intelligence and Information Security most difficult for faculty to prepare for there also were significant concerns over the availability of materials. This was addressed by five components
• Lectures cover the business process and technological changes following expansion of internet commerce
• Introduction to the threats
• Discussion of competitive intelligence that builds on the material introduced in the Marketing Research course
• Students conduct a detailed competitive intelligence report for a local publicly traded firm to allow them to develop a sense of the amount of information that is publically available
• Discussions of public and private sector agencies and organizations that can assist the firm in protecting itself and its consumers are introduced
• To add currency to the classes, students are required to register for the SANS newsletter (www.sans.org). Their bi-weekly email newsletter notes news stories, legal matters, policy and legislation, attacks, intrusions, data theft and loss, statistics, studies and surveys. This Newsletter provides ample current news for courses in internet marketing, marketing research, competitive intelligence and information security.

Conclusion:
The Concentration in IMR can use existing courses in most cases and requires minimal imposition of new resources or courses. It accomplishes the function of preparing students to work in rapidly changing environments. Additionally course materials are abundant from government agencies in the US and the EU.