consumer behaviour

by: Dick Stroud

The dreadful term Spending the Kids Inheritance (SKIing) is one of the few age-jargon phrases that has stuck in mainstream language.

by: Idris Mootee

I have so many responses from my last post, I wanted to explore that subject more next week so for those who sent me emails or posted here plese bear with me and I will get back to you on those discussions. For now, I want to share some thoughts on social networks. We are all wondering how social networking is likely to evolve once we get past the current hype cycle. It is always good to start from the motivations of these social networks.

by: Roger Dooley

Why do people do things that will gain them social approval? It turns out that the same parts of the brain are activated for a positive social outcome as for a monetary reward. In other words, the same reward circuitry is turned on both by social and monetary gains. Corporate marketers as well as non-profit fundraisers have always known that most individuals crave social approval, but these new findings show how our brains process these social rewards and how they relate to money.

by: Roger Dooley

by: Joel Makower

by: Lynette Webb

by: Dick Stroud

Forrester Research found that across a range of eight financial products, at one end, 59% of consumers researched their choice of credit cards online, while at the other end, 34% researched their life insurance decision online. Even at the low end, that’s a pretty healthy percentage of customers.

by: Idris
Mootee

Everyone is talking about Facebook during the last two
weeks. Social networks are becoming commodities just like web-based email
accounts such as Hotmail or Gmail. This game isn't about the next upcoming
killer features or cool widgets. The value of any social networks are based on:

by: Idris Mootee

Finally back home from Chicago after a busy week sitting in cafe reading the Journal. I was meeting with some MaRS people today and I was really excited be able to talk to people who really understand innovation and the art-of-start-up. I think they are offering is highly valuable for start-ups as they provide market intelligence and counseling from a team of experienced, multidisciplinary professionals. They primarily provide services to technology companies at early stages of business development.