Companies Use E-scores to Pitch Woo to the Right Customers

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Corporate headquarters in St. Cloud, Minnesota

Secret E-Scores Chart Consumers’ Buying Power. (The New York Times, 8/18/2012)

Excerpt [bullet points added]:  It’s true that credit scores, based on personal credit reports, have been around for decades. And direct marketing companies have long ranked consumers by their socioeconomic status. But e-scores go further. They can take into account facts like 

• occupation, 
• salary and 
• home value to 
• spending on luxury goods or pet food, 

and do it all with algorithms that their creators say accurately predict spending.

As Gordy Meyer explains in the article, escores help businesses answer three questions about potential customers:

• Are the legitimate?
• Are they worth pursuing?
• Are they worth spending money on?