Companies are often preoccupied with the task of choosing a name for a brand. It can be a delicate task with different considerations to make (e.g., cognitive, legal, cultural). However, there are three basic requirements that a brand name must hold to at the outset: being memorable, having a sound pleasant to the ear, and… Read More
The Rising Wonder of Smart Vending Machines
A new generation of automated smart vending machines, including refrigerators and coolers, is taking its place within stores (e.g., food, pharma, convenience) and in public spaces (e.g., train stations & airports, malls, service waiting lounges). There is variation in their models and features, but they have some common characteristics: they are AI-augmented, data-driven, and often… Read More
When Aesthetics Meets Neuroscience: Neuroaesthetics
Seeing or hearing a beautiful creation — of art, design, or nature — usually makes us feel good, bringing in us a feeling of pleasure, elevation, calm or thrill. Often enough, the aesthetics of a scenery, artefact or person is realised almost instantly (i.e., astounding beauty). Neuroaesthetics, a young field of the neurosciences, is devoted… Read More
Digital Price Display: Opportunity & Risk
The landscape in food stores is gradually changing with a transition of retailers from printed price labels to digital price tags, formally known as electronic shelf labels (ESLs). When looking from some distance, shoppers may not notice the difference in appearance of the label, but the digital price display can have implications that shoppers may… Read More
The Issues Troubling Consumers, and Their Search for Answers
For a fifth year in a row, consumers worldwide are living in an era that can be closely described as very busy, oftentimes turbulent, and full of challenges. It is an unstable era. The events or developments of this era, explicitly or through their consequences, touch on multiple areas: health-oriented, economic, political, socio-cultural, and technological.… Read More
Jelmoli Prepares for a New but Different Chapter in Its Retailing Legacy
Jelmoli is a Swiss department store in Zürich well-known to residents and visitors of the city. Last year (2023) the retail brand celebrated “190 Years of Jelmoli” with the tagline “Full of Stories” (e.g., posted on the store’s front windows). However, this celebration also marks in all likelihood a conclusion of its function as a… Read More
Listening to Managers and Consumers When Building Marketing Theory
Academic articles in marketing can be very instructive, occasionally eye-opening, on various issues and topics; one can learn from them about theory, research methodology and models, and the findings and conclusions reached from their analyses. Yet, it would not be presumptuous to say that managers do not rush to search for, read and consult with… Read More
On the Verge of Subscription Fatigue
Magazines & newspapers, video (TV) streaming, online shopping, water containers (mineral) or filters, shaving razors, and so on — almost anywhere companies are ready to offer consumers subscription programmes for their goods or services. The monthly or annual subscriptions may be offered by manufacturers (selling directly to consumers), service providers and retailers. The scheme is… Read More
A Spotlight on the Gap Between Purchase Intention and Actual Behaviour
Rick, who is unhappy with the increased frequency of repairs that his current car requires, intends to buy a new car to replace it within the next six months. Sandy, on the other hand, has her mind set on buying a bicycle in the coming month to help her move around more freely within the… Read More
Conjoint and MaxDiff: Choice-Based Methods for Measuring Consumer Preferences
Choice-Based Conjoint and MaxDiff (i.e., Maximum Difference, also known as Best-Worst scaling) are advanced methods for measuring and estimating consumer preferences by means of choice experiments and discrete choice models. Conjoint Analysis is a veteran methodology, initiated in the early 1970s, for measuring multi-attribute consumer preferences, based on ranking order or rating evaluations of product… Read More
Consumer / Shopper / Customer Behaviour 