research

Yes, it’s that time of the year.

The (now) fourth version of this wonderful research on Customer Service Usage and Adoption report is coming back!

Self-interest has always been a primary tenet of capitalism. As Adam Smith famously wrote, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” Private interest, in the aggregate, is often a public good.

It used to be said that what was good for General Motors was good for the country. The thinking was that by supporting the engines of prosperity, we’re all going to be better off. Yet it would also seem that, in many cases at least, what makes industry successful can also improve the public sector.

You should read this research from Gallup. 

As the title suggests, it reckons that US Baby Boomers are spending - certainly more than they did a year ago.

Want to make your prices seem lower without actually changing them? I’ve got a research-based technique that will do exactly that, with one small catch: your prices will only look lower to your male customers.

Every neuromarketing technique has one main purpose: get beneath consumers’ conscious reactions and see what they think subconsciously. While some neuromarketers employ high tech equipment like fMRI machines, a Canadian group says a simple device first used in 1890 may unlock our brain’s secrets. A team from the University of British Columbia’s Visual Cognition Lab thinks that, used properly, the Ouija Board can show what subjects are really thinking.

September saw the launch of our report into how online engagement can drive action offline published by vInspired, the UK’s leading youth volunteering charity. The research worked with young people across the UK to understand the role that digital technologies play in their lives and how best to use engage them online to inspire them to take action offline.

Quick two-question survey:

1. Do you think that banks and credit unions should continue to increase their investment in the mobile channel? (Y/N)
2. Do you think the “voice of the customer” is important for bank and credit unions to pay attention to? (Y/N)
   

Only 10% of European consumers trust posts by brands on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter; in North America this number increases to 15%. This is the finding of new research from Forrester. It shows that consumer trust of brands in social media is still much lower than the trust they have for their friends and the posts they make.