Market research news
The blog of the market research agency IntoTheminds lists opinionated articles, examples of alignment with marketing theory, highlights and bad buzz, carefully selected by Pierre-Nicolas Schwab, his team and influential experts.
Belfius : 95,25% customer satisfaction. Can you believe it?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
I visited a Belfius branch last week and was stunned to see their latest marketing campaign and their claim about their high customer satisfaction: 95,25% customer satisfaction ! Can you imagine ? This is just an amazing score. So amazing…
Market research : data strategy for European broadcasting organizations
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
On the occasion of the 2nd annual EBU Big Data week held in Geneva on 21 and 22 March 2017, the results of a pilot survey on the state of Big Data among broadcasters was revealed. The survey results are…
Why Facebook emoji are an incredibly smart move
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
What is a "Like" worth ? What does it really mean ? The "like" mechanism was a great innovation when it was launched. It was a simplistic, yet powerful, way for a consumer to mark his (dis)interest. It was a…
Virtual Reality : Interview of ArtMyn founder, Loic Baboulaz
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
After a visit at EPFL in Lausanne we discovered the work of ArtMyn, a startup specialising in Virtual Reality applied to Art. We interwied its founder, Loïc Baboulaz, to understand the genesis of ArtMyn and the evolution of the virtual…
Recommendation algorithms : the myth of filter bubbles at stake
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
We've already discussed filter bubbles on this blog, a rather technical term that describes the negative effet of algorithms on our digital life. For more information read this thorough article. Whether or not filter bubbles really exist is still debated…
Artificial intelligence: are algorithms biased by nature ?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
I attended a workshop at the Maastricht European Centre on Privacy and Cybersecurity where I met Prof. Alessandro Mantelero of Polytecnico di Torino. Prof. Mantelero is well known as a specialist in the protection of personal data, which has become…
Good news for customers’ satisfaction : robots will replace humans
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
We have some good news for you : robots are about to replace humans. People are finally going to be able to focus on what they do best : having relationships with other humans. Artificial intelligence evrywhere : what is…
Which market research method for a new concept, product or service ?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Recently I was approach by a large group in the hospitality industry which wanted to conduct a market research for a new concept they had in mind. This hospitality concept had been broadly sketched. What the client wanted was a…
The human costs of buying from Deliveroo, UberEats and the like
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Deliveroo communicated that the number of lunch deliveries in Belgium had increased 19 fold ! People start understanding that food delivery is not just a Friday night habit. It can also be experienced during the week and also at lunch.…
Retail : the role of packaging on in-store purchase decisions
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
How to drive more in-store purchases ? This is the $1m question every retailer relentlessly tries to answer. Recent scientific advances in the field of consumer behavior give us some insights on this, especially on the role of packaging. How…
I finally found a useful Virtual Reality (VR) application
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
I have often been disappointed by Virtual Reality (VR) applications. Like IoT (Internet of Things) most VR applications add no or little value for the user. There is an entertainment effect but it's far from sufficient to make you a…
When will the IoT market eventually crash ?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
I attended the first day of Unconvention in Brussels in January and what I saw and heard made me reflect on the value of innovation. During the first set of presentation, a speaker explained the current state of an IoT…
GDPR compliance: are your algorithms ethical?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
On your journey to GDPR compliance (General Data Protection Regulation) you will certainly need some help and some guidance to do the right things avoid being fined. We all agree, among specialists, that GDPR implementation may be delayed to let…
Linkedin helps recruiters develop bad practices
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
There's something I hate about Linkedin. When you are active in a sector where demand exceeds offer, you start getting all kind of bullshit InMail and connection requests from recruiters. I'm in the Big Data consulting business; you can easily…
Emotions detection in advertising: consumers still reluctant to give their data
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Advertisers have always been among the most creative professionals; not only on the content part but also in their use of the newest technologies to make their advertising messages more efficient. The use of eye-tracking dates back to decades, whereas…
Retail : Garconne et Cherubin offers “Pay-What-You-Want” option
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
"Pay What You Want" is a concept that allows customers to gain control back over the prices they pay. This technique is rather old and academic research dating back to 2009 showed the benefits of that approach. A few concrete…
Market research : Norwegians don’t want personnalized insurance
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Insurance companies are getting increasingly personal and thanks to digitization they are proposing new tailor-made products. Two main applications can be found : Personalized health insurance Personalized car insurance We have explored in recent articles the different aspects of such…
More debt leads to lower customer satisfaction
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
It is well known that firms in the US use mainly external financing (debt) to finance growth. It actually is believed to account for 80% of financing. Yet, this external financing puts pressure on the firms and studies have revealed…
Imperfection can also be a source of delight and customer satisfaction
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Who said satisfaction stems from perfection. Imperfect products can also lead to enjoyment and satisfaction. Take for instance the example of Merci, a premium retailer located in Paris that attracs trendsetters from all over the world. They just started a…
Can Big Data become a technique to promote transparency and equity
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
On this blog I often took a pessimistic look at Big Data, asking for a revolution in how firms build and use their algorithms. I called for instance for opening up the models behind recommendation algorithms and wondered whether our…
Measuring emotions for a better customer experience management
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Can we measure customer experience ? This is a topic we already discussed here and the answer was no. Let me come with a new proposal that was addressed by Sensum during the CPDP 2017 conference : can our body…
How data vulnerability affects firms’ performance and how to remedy it
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Everyone talks about privacy. But what is it really ? A recent article in French economical journal "La Tribune" built upon two recent BCG reports (here and there) on data protection and privacy to question firms' practices around data privacy…
Academic research debunks the myth of filter bubbles
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
The interest for the "Filter Bubble" phenomenon reached an all-time high after 2016 US presidential elections (see our article). The existence of filter bubble was hypothesized by Eli Pariser in 2011, yet it remains at the center of debate on…
How US elections shed light on the filter bubble phenomenon
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Just do a Google search on "Filter bubble" and you'll be surprized of the many results returned. The recent US presidential elections have shed light on this phenomenon first hypothetized by Eli Pariser in 2011, and subject to much debate…
