I suppose we of course all knew this was happening, but at the same time I think it's normal to find this a little unsettling. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. It would be funny some day if we find out a code ment something like "Man, married with family but has latent homosexual tendicies" - effect - market discount airfare in and out of SFO.
Remember the mini scandal when someone who was logged in was getting different pricing then a "guest"? This is how that happens. Let's say you are a delta score "0" aka "gamer status" and you are searching a flight. I also know that you own your own home worth 400k in a zip code where medium avg home value is 250k. I know your income and age. I therefore know that you can afford to pay more but you are gamer and low value on a revenue per mile basis so, no HOOUS coupon for you. Also, since I know you can pay more, I'm not going to offer you discounts I might offer to another demographic.
In the real world this is much more personal and is a two way street. Example, I currently reside in the Philippines. I am a white, American male. When I go to the fish market I typically see the same fish market sales stall owners. They of course profile me immediately. I will get quoted higher prices and they will be less willing to negotiate down. I know this of course. I am a high value customer to them. I can, and am willing, to pay more for my fish than the standard fish market customer. Why would I be ok with this? Well I'm treated with great respect. I always get the best pick of the litter so to speak. I can make requests like "hey tomorrow could you find me more of those prawns you had last week that are f'n gigantic?" they will of course do this because they know I'm willing to pay just a little bit more than the next guy. In my case, maybe it's 25 pesos or 50 pesos more for that 150 peso fish. So maybe .50 cents to a dollar more my cost to get exactly what I want, when I want it. Fair trade.
This is the 21century way to try to do that on a mass scale - but it loses it's personal touch and has a creepy feel.