Information is power, or at least it is often perceived as such in the business world. Information is critical to knowing who your customers are, what their needs are, and how much they will pay for a product or service. Companies engage in market research and other activities (including industrial spying) to try to gain as much information as possible. With the proliferation of computers and the globalization of markets, the amount of information that is available has grown exponentially in recent decades. Even large companies with massive resources have difficulty amassing and sorting through all of the information available to them; as a result, so-called "information brokers" have evolved. These individuals and businesses trade in information, much of it available publicly, in order to provide necessary information to industry. This research considers the rise of the information brokers and the type of business which makes use of them.
The information services industry has come about because of the wide range of information which is available to business professionals. Public information, including annual reports and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, are a primary source of information for many businesses, but additional information is also available which can be difficult for even large businesses to gather (O'Leary, 1995, 49). As a result, professional information brokers have come about to provide not only raw data, but sorted information designed to assist companies in their marketing and competitive positions.
Many types of information are available through an information broker. For example, some companies specialize in mailing lists which are made available in presorted labels or on electronic media. These mailing lists can be targeted to specific types of individuals (such as owners of businesses), to a specific regional area (such as a single city or state) or sorted by many other demographi...