Combining ethnography and Big Data in market research : a real example
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Qualitative research techniques have inherently an ethnographic background that many market research firms tend to ignore. Qualitative techniques are there to help researchers discover what's going on and build their assumptions. This is exactly what we tried to do when…
A nudge at Brussels airport : WWF Panda wins charity competition
We talked about nudges this week on this blog (see our article on the Icelandic nudge to promote public safety). Today I'd like to give you another insight into behavioral economics and show you how human behavior can be influenced…
Customer satisfaction : courtesy ensures everlasting emotions
I happen to be very often on business trips to meet clients. One recurrent problem when you travel alone is to find a place for dinner where you'll feel welcome although you are alone. I was in Amsterdam for a…
Market research : how to set up the price of new products and services
In a recent post I told you the story of my friend Patrick who faced the request of a customer not aware of the price oh his high-end services. This turned into a very frustrating experience for both. In today's…
Customer satisfaction is all about expectations : a real example
My good friend (and former customer) Patrick Mascart is in the photo/video business and has also become an expert in aerial photo and video services. Through his agency he has worked for prestigious clients like the European Commission and many…
Consumer behavior : why do we leave online reviews?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
On the occasion of the RecSys 2017 conference I was fortunate to attend Prof. Lowenstein's inaugural talk that offered an inspiring overview of behavioral economics applied to recommendation systems. In particular Prof. Lowenstein explored the psychology of information sharing which…
Dynamic pricing : natural marketing evolution or threat ?
In a recent article the Guardian recalled the story of John Wanamaker who revolutionized retail by inventing "fixed prices". As incredible as it may seem, until 1861 prices were set according to the rule of thumb and the perception left…
Market research : evolution of food purchasing behaviors on the French market
What are the significant trends in the food market? What is consumed, and how? In this article, we return to the evolutions of this market. Discover also the prospective study that we carried out on the future of the retail…
3 key principles to follow for your good customer satisfaction surveys
I hear companies claiming they have x% or y% of customer satisfaction, proudly claiming Net Promoter Score (NPS) of so much and that many returning customers. While these figures seem great at first sight, this doesn't tell us much. Read…
How Big Data will influence the future of advertising
"What is the impact of Big Data on online advertising" is the question I was asked to answer on the occasion of an EGTA (European Group of Television Advertising) workshop that took place on 29 and 30 June 2017 in…
French President Macron listens to his customers
We discussed in our latest article why CEO's and top executives should talk directly to customers (especially in B2C) to understand problems with their products and services and help them find remedies to customer dissatisfaction. If you follow French politics…
How to use single-sign-on in retail to improve customer experience
I recently gave a speech on identity management and GDPR at the Gigya Identified 2017 conference in London. There I had the opportunity to listen to another Julien Marlot who is the head of digital activities at Unibail. Unibail-Rodamco is…
Big Data and ethics : how visualization can screw it up
Following our first article on the Big Data and Ethics meetup organized at Digityser on 15 June 2017, we'd like to cover today another very interesting presentation by Leenke De Donder. Lenke dealt with an aspect the importance of which…
Airlines loyalty programs : different countries, different benefits
Loyalty cards have been an important innovation when it comes to increase customer loyalty. It ll started with American Airlines and the least we can say is that the airline industry is the one which has probably pushed the concept…
Moncler and DKV don’t care about customer complaints
Who said big companies are customer-centric and focused on customer satisfaction ? Besides firms which tweak their satisfaction surveys to obtain better results (see the example of Belfius), others simply seem to ignore the basic principles that ensure satisfied customers.…
Facebook doesn’t tell you really why you get targeted advertising
In the data world, the topics of transparency, privacy and ethics are more and more discussed. As we predicted a year ago, this may well be the next revolution in data science. We ran an experiment to understand the level…
Ugly vegetables look more natural and give stores a better image
Consumers perceive "ugly", misshappen vegetables, as more natural. Moreover communication campaigns promoting these "abnormal" products benefit also the stores , such campaign convey indeed a positive image in the minds of the customers. Those are the results of a study…
Personalized car insurance has unexpected effects on customers behaviors
A recent article in a French magazine sheds light on progresses made by insurance company Allianz in the field of personalized car insurance. Like many other firms in the field, Allianz believes in the usefulness of telematic units (black boxes)…
Customer loyalty : 3 sets of KPI’s that should become your priorities
My good friend Christian Barbaray published an article (in French) where he listed the KPI's that firms most commonly monitor. He split them in 3 categories ("global", "asquisition", "loyalty") and concluded that firms on average monitor 11 KPI's. What I…
Youtube recommendations : user experience and algorithmes better than ever
If you are addicated to YouTube, chances are high their recommendation systems play an important role in your addiction. Our deep interest in recommendation engines and algorithms makes us naturally gravitate towards the YouTube app to assess their latest developments.…
Amazon’s new business move will lock customers further
Amazon looks to me as one of the most innovative companies in the world, far more innovative actually that any of the electronics giants out there which have done poorly at inventing any real breakthrough innovation for the last 10…
4 hints to avoid your customer satisfaction survey from failing
In our latest article we discuss the Goodhart's law and what it meant for customer satisfaction measurement. In short, if satisfaction scores become a company's objectives, the likelihood is high that results will be biased. Contact us for your B2B…
How the Goodhart’s law makes customer satisfaction surveys fail
“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”. This is the Goodhart's law and it explains in my opinion why why an awful lot customer satisfaction measures fail. Let me take two concrete examples that…
Interview of Edward Vizard on implementing Pay-What-You-Want at Garçonne & Chérubin
A few weeks ago we discussed an interesting, yet rather unusual, pricing scheme in the retail sector applied by e-merchant Garçonne & Cherubin : the Pay-What-You-Want system. We discuss today the experience of Edward Vizard, founder of Garçonne & Chérubin, on this…
Ford builds trust and satisfaction with the Ford video check
Ford is currently rolling out a new digital tool that will help build trust and enhance customer satisfaction : the Ford video check. We tested it and it's just amazing. Read further to see how Ford is transforming the car…
Belfius : 95,25% customer satisfaction. Can you believe it?
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
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
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
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…
Good news for customers’ satisfaction : robots will replace humans
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 ?
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
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
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
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…
GDPR compliance: are your algorithms ethical?
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
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…
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