The Marketing potential presented by GIS is perhaps the most controversial element of this system. It is through this use of GIS technology that the individual's "right to privacy" is arguably compromised. Marketing experts take a specific geographic area or region and plot it on the "spatial database" where it appears as a "map." Onto this "spatial database" are overlaid lifetimes of data. Information is collected from public and private databases such as the US Census, credit bureaus, credit card companies and city and county record offices. This data is very specific and will include an individual's purchasing history, buying habits, family size, age, ethnicity, religion, skill or profession, education, income and assets. Market experts utilize the data to determine where to put their stores, what to put on their shelves, and how to tailor their marketing efforts. The effect of using GIS technology in the market place has been spectacular. According to Rick Tetzeli in an article for Fortune Magazine, Sears Roebuck's subsidiary, Western Auto, has reduced the number of months it takes for a new store to break even. In the past, new stores took approximately 18 months to begin to break even and then to make a profit. The "break-even" period is now 6 months. Company executives achieved the reduction using GIS technology (92). Project results such as those of Western Auto have dramatic economic significance. If it were dependent upon its value to the business community alone, this technology would be here to stay.
