Integrating choice set formation and taste heterogeneity in market segmentation. This project develops a new model of consumer decision-making to provide managerial insights related to market segmentation, product portfolio optimisation and marketing communication strategies. The model can be specified for a particular product category using data collected from a novel elicitation instrument developed as part of this project.
Communicating Product Value: Responsible Markets and the Australian Consumer. Working towards sustainable patterns of consumption is essential to attaining sustainable development in Australia. The research will add to our understanding of how Australian consumers assess the value of environmentally or socially responsible products. It will reveal the social processes and networks which inform the attitudes and purchasing behaviour concerning these products. By enabling companies to link their s ....Communicating Product Value: Responsible Markets and the Australian Consumer. Working towards sustainable patterns of consumption is essential to attaining sustainable development in Australia. The research will add to our understanding of how Australian consumers assess the value of environmentally or socially responsible products. It will reveal the social processes and networks which inform the attitudes and purchasing behaviour concerning these products. By enabling companies to link their socially and environmentally responsible strategies to their core business, the research will facilitate the development of responsible and sustainable markets. Refining the business case for sustainability will lead to a more sustainable development in Australia.Read moreRead less
Experiments in the Dynamics of Preference and Choice in an Evolving Social Network. This project offers revolutionary insight into the process by which social leaders emerge and leadership evolves over time. The project improves the understanding of how decisions are made individually and at group levels with important implications for commerce, marketing, and policy. Project results foster managing network development and evolution, allowing firms and government agencies to understand how they ....Experiments in the Dynamics of Preference and Choice in an Evolving Social Network. This project offers revolutionary insight into the process by which social leaders emerge and leadership evolves over time. The project improves the understanding of how decisions are made individually and at group levels with important implications for commerce, marketing, and policy. Project results foster managing network development and evolution, allowing firms and government agencies to understand how they can use networks to disseminate information to consumers and individual citizens. The results will also inform the development of regulations targeting reductions in herding where such behaviour can cause harmful market disruptions.Read moreRead less
Is brand image instability a measurement artifact? If brand images are indeed unstable, then not only are private companies wasting their money on image campaigns but also government organisations are wasting public money on brand image campaigns such as the many conducted by the Australian Tourism Commission overseas, and by local governments, such as "Wollongong - city of innovation." Wouldn't you like to know whether your money is being well spent? A reasonably definitive assessment of the wo ....Is brand image instability a measurement artifact? If brand images are indeed unstable, then not only are private companies wasting their money on image campaigns but also government organisations are wasting public money on brand image campaigns such as the many conducted by the Australian Tourism Commission overseas, and by local governments, such as "Wollongong - city of innovation." Wouldn't you like to know whether your money is being well spent? A reasonably definitive assessment of the worthwhileness of public-funded brand image campaigns will be the main national and community benefit of this research. Read moreRead less
The paradox of choice: Unravelling complex superannuation decisions. Australia has been a world-leader in retirement savings policy, but there remains a pervasive lack of understanding about how best to communicate complex financial information to decision-makers, along with a push by government for clearer disclosure and greater financial literacy. This project will inform regulators and the superannuation industry on how choices are made and how to present clearer, better-designed information ....The paradox of choice: Unravelling complex superannuation decisions. Australia has been a world-leader in retirement savings policy, but there remains a pervasive lack of understanding about how best to communicate complex financial information to decision-makers, along with a push by government for clearer disclosure and greater financial literacy. This project will inform regulators and the superannuation industry on how choices are made and how to present clearer, better-designed information to be understood by ordinary participants, thus encouraging active, well-informed participation rather than passive 'default' decisions. More efficient investment and benefit choices will improve the economic welfare of retirees, reduce the burden on the working-age population and improve fiscal sustainability.Read moreRead less
Harnessing Business Insights from Unstructured Customer Data. Resulting from customers’ widespread uptake of online channels to buy and communicate has been a surge in online reviews and social media posts. This textual information offers a viable alternative to surveys that Australian businesses currently conduct to obtain customer insights. However, these reviews are unstructured and require substantial pre-processing to extract underlying customer perceptions. Therefore, this project aims to ....Harnessing Business Insights from Unstructured Customer Data. Resulting from customers’ widespread uptake of online channels to buy and communicate has been a surge in online reviews and social media posts. This textual information offers a viable alternative to surveys that Australian businesses currently conduct to obtain customer insights. However, these reviews are unstructured and require substantial pre-processing to extract underlying customer perceptions. Therefore, this project aims to develop a novel machine learning approach to quantify the business-relevant information contained in textual information shared by customers online. This alternative approach will provide significant cost-saving benefits for a range of Australian companies, such as retailers, hotels, airlines and restaurants.Read moreRead less
Patterns of Buyer Behaviour in China. A mainstream interest of marketers is the study of buyer behaviour (i.e., brand choice, repeat-purchase, switching, loyalty, segmentation, etc.) Much is known. But virtually all of this knowledge comes from Western studies. Yet non-Western nations, such as China, are now immensely important trading partners for the West.
This is the first systematic study of buyer behaviour in China to be based on formal analyses of consumer panel data. An assessment wil ....Patterns of Buyer Behaviour in China. A mainstream interest of marketers is the study of buyer behaviour (i.e., brand choice, repeat-purchase, switching, loyalty, segmentation, etc.) Much is known. But virtually all of this knowledge comes from Western studies. Yet non-Western nations, such as China, are now immensely important trading partners for the West.
This is the first systematic study of buyer behaviour in China to be based on formal analyses of consumer panel data. An assessment will be made of how our analytical models, and associated findings, extend to new conditions (e.g., new geographical markets, sub-regions, traditional Chinese goods, different groups of buyers, etc.).Read moreRead less
Linking Brand Equity Modelling and Measurement with Behavioural and Affective Consumer Decision Processes. Brand equity monitoring often fails to account for image-related and habit-entrenched consumer decision rules. This research takes an established brand equity monitoring tool, A C Nielsen's Winning Brands, and incorporates work on decision heuristics into it. Heuristics occur when consumers simplify their decision task using rules sub-optimal with respect to selecting their preferred alte ....Linking Brand Equity Modelling and Measurement with Behavioural and Affective Consumer Decision Processes. Brand equity monitoring often fails to account for image-related and habit-entrenched consumer decision rules. This research takes an established brand equity monitoring tool, A C Nielsen's Winning Brands, and incorporates work on decision heuristics into it. Heuristics occur when consumers simplify their decision task using rules sub-optimal with respect to selecting their preferred alternative, but effective in terms of reducing cognitive effort. The project will conduct a meta-analysis of over 250 branding strategies followed by a new data collection and latent segmentation analysis. The result will be a more comprehensive decision support tool for brand development, focusing management actions and improving marketing efficiency.Read moreRead less
A cognitive model for identifying optimal measures of beliefs. Belief measures are of high practical relevance. One current national example is measurement of beliefs about recycled water, which will affect state and territory governments' water conservation policies. Another is cultural values, measures of which can form the basis for initiatives to improve social harmony in Australia. The knowledge gained, however, is only as good as the validity of the belief measure employed. We will analyse ....A cognitive model for identifying optimal measures of beliefs. Belief measures are of high practical relevance. One current national example is measurement of beliefs about recycled water, which will affect state and territory governments' water conservation policies. Another is cultural values, measures of which can form the basis for initiatives to improve social harmony in Australia. The knowledge gained, however, is only as good as the validity of the belief measure employed. We will analyse the main types of measures used at present and develop improved belief measures which, when published, will increase the quality of research in the social sciences and enhance Australia's international scientific reputation.Read moreRead less
Measuring Marketing Effectiveness: State of the Art, Current Practice and Areas of Leverage. Marketing performs a useful role in society by identifying customer needs, focusing the resources of the firm towards meeting those needs, and communicating to customers how best to access the products available to fulfill their needs. Without good metrics marketing is fragmented and ineffective. By improving the measurement of marketing effort there will be less waste, resulting in higher profits and ....Measuring Marketing Effectiveness: State of the Art, Current Practice and Areas of Leverage. Marketing performs a useful role in society by identifying customer needs, focusing the resources of the firm towards meeting those needs, and communicating to customers how best to access the products available to fulfill their needs. Without good metrics marketing is fragmented and ineffective. By improving the measurement of marketing effort there will be less waste, resulting in higher profits and greater focus and improved customer satisfaction within Australian markets. In global markets, Australian firms will have access to the tools necessary to assist them to better meet the needs of overseas' customers, resulting in improved export performance.Read moreRead less