Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Why am I getting mail from Tiffany & Co.?

People end up on mailing lists they never signed up for. Somehow I have ended up on the mailing list of Tiffany & Co. This makes no sense to me. I have never bought anything from them or a similar jewelry company.

The best way I can think of that I ended up on their list is from consumer profiling. I must have given my name and address to a group or company which then sold the information. This brings up my next question. Who could have my name and address strongly associated with an activity that a jewelry company would want? The first activities that come to mind involve astronomy, religion, politics, education, and consumer habits.

My name has been on astronomy lists from buying telescope equipment and subscribing to Sky and Telescope for a while. I do not see any connection between jewelry and astronomy or any religious affiliation. Educational mailings I get are very general and usually involve going to a school, buying a diploma frame, or something directly related to education. Consumer lists are a possibility, but I cannot think of any time I bought something at a Tiffany like store. I bought some perfume at Nordstrom's, but that was a couple of years before I started getting mailings.

This leaves political lists. I think my name was taken from a list of actively involved Republicans. Marketing research people could make the jump from Republican -> large disposable income -> want upscale items -> could buy from Tiffany & Co.

The only problems are I have neither an income that could support buying their items nor a girlfriend to dote upon.

If anyone has a better theory I would like to read it.

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