Advanced research methods for market researchers | blog posts from Sentient Decision Science
Last week’s NYTimes Sunday Business section featured two articles on consumer irrationality (“Is There A Method In Cellphone Madness?”) and (“Paying A Price For the Thrill of the Hunt“) . As a firm that studies consumer psychology, and specifically the psychology of decision making, it’s interesting to see these topics making headlines. Part of our […]
The advent of the digital age and the ease of data storage and collection have been a true blessing for the market research industry. It’s easier than ever to get a glimpse of what consumers are doing simply by looking at web traffic statistics for different sites. The success of an online ad is at […]
Dan Ariely, the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University and author of Predictably Irrational, recently published an insightful article in the Harvard Business Review titled “The End of Rational Economics.” Following the global economic crisis, it has become painfully apparent that individuals do not always make rational decisions and the invisible […]
As a qualitative researcher who has conducted literally hundreds of focus groups, interviews and ethnography studies, I’m used to the aftermath of my job: after spending time with a stranger discussing their emotional attachments, decision-making process, and personal values, I can’t help but feel a letdown when I’ve gotten all the data I need and […]
The Mind of the Market is deeply concerned with the expansive topic of evolution. The evolution of man, markets, social structures, and the intersection of all three. If Michael Shermer’s book were to be inserted into the same theme, it would be at the evolutionary stage of “primordial ooze.” This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; primordial ooze is full of nutrients, activity, and all those good things necessary for life, but it is also chaotic and disorienting, pushing and pulling you in different directions. But where this work falls in terms of utility for a general audience – and specifically one of marketers – is questionable.