Creating Marketing Personas Using Social Media. 2016.
Abstract
According to research completed at Pennsylvania State University, computers now have the ability to divide consumers in marketing segments automatically based solely on how they respond to social media data.
Marketers, who create personas manually with data from focus groups, ethnography methods and surveys, can then hold conversations and make decisions based on these personas. A downfall of this is that it is very time consuming, expensive, and become obsolete quickly.
However, computer-drawn personas not only can be created in real time and at relatively low costs, but they can be updated quickly as economic conditions and demographics continue to change.
Algorithms were created and used to analyze different data, such as demographics, interests, and interactions from 188,000 subscribers of a news website. The data included the subscribers' YouTube profiles, which included demographic information such as gender, age and country location, and their interactions with videos on the site, such as the topics of videos watched by the users.
This site had posted approximately 2,807 videos to its YouTube channel that were viewed by 30 million users in 217 countries. The algorithms then identified unique ways that groups of people were interacting with the information, in this case, news videos. While the researchers used news and information in this study, the technology could be applied to other types of consumer transactions.
Capturing Energy from Human Motion. 2016.
AbstractResearchers from Michigan State University have recently created a way to capture energy by using human motions. They used a device similar to film that can be folded to create more power. The low-cost device, a nanogenerator (FENG), was operated by simply touching or pressing, and doesn’t use a battery.
The findings, published in the journal Nano Energy, claim that this finding puts us on the path toward wearable devices powered by human motion.
The innovative process starts with a silicone wafer, which is then fabricated with several layers, or thin sheets, of environmentally friendly substances. Ions are added so that each layer in the device contains charged particles. Electrical energy is created when the device is compressed by human motion, or mechanical energy.
The device is as thin as a sheet of paper and can be adapted to many applications and sizes. The device used to power the LED lights was palm-sized, for example, while the device used to power the touch screen was as small as a finger.
Advantages such as being lightweight, flexible, biocompatible, scalable, low-cost and robust could make FENG "a promising and alternative method in the field of mechanical-energy harvesting" for many autonomous electronics such as wireless headsets, cell phones and other touch-screen devices.
How Does Consumer Behavior Respond to Corporate Social Responsibility Marketing?. 2016.
Abstract
According to a new study from a University of Kansas marketing and consumer behavior researcher, consumers in dominant collectivist cultures, are more likely to support corporate social responsibility initiatives from brands based in their own country as opposed to foreign or global corporations. This distinction matters much less to consumers in individualist cultures, such as the United States and Canada.
This research could provide insight to firms seeking to expand into developing markets in Asia or elsewhere because their marketing success in the United States might not necessarily translate in a country where consumers practice more collectivist philosophies.
Researchers typically consider consumers in collectivistic societies to value the needs of a group or community over that of an individual, whereby people tend to focus on the importance of the family, and pursue harmony and group cohesion. Individualistic societies are considered to be the opposite.
An Evolving Power Sector Receives Guidance from Energy Report. 2016.
Abstract
Relatively small-scale power technologies such as wind, energy storage, power electronics, and solar are being deployed rapidly in the global shift toward a low-carbon energy future. To ensure that both distributed and centralized energy resources are integrated efficiently, electric power systems in the U.S., Europe, and other parts of the world need major regulatory, policy, and market overhauls claims the report "Utility of the Future," released by the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI).
Today's electric power systems were designed, built, and regulated well before distributed energy resources had come onto the horizon as viable options for widespread use.
Now, the businesses and regulatory bodies that determine how power is distributed need a path forward to incorporate these rapidly proliferating technologies. They also need to evolve to meet changing consumer preferences and increase efficiency across the system to achieve cost savings and carbon emissions reductions.
Among the study's recommendations is a set of measures to improve tariff and rate structures for electricity services. Electricity services should be priced in a "technology-agnostic" manner that is based solely on how consumers use these services. Making use of "peak-coincident capacity charges," which increase prices when electricity networks are under stress or generating capacity is scarce, can discourage consumers from drawing on the grid during these times.
Prices and charges should also better reflect how the value of services changes at different times of day or at different locations in the grid. Such cost-reflective pricing can open up opportunities for distributed resources and enable significant cost savings.
Uncollected E-Commerce Taxes on the Rise?. 2016.
Abstract
The US Supreme Court rejected a case earlier this week that could lead to states collecting billions of dollars in sales taxes that are lost to e-commerce shopping.
The court would not hear a challenge to a Colorado law requiring online sellers to notify customers and the state how much they owe in taxes. State officials have estimated that Colorado alone has been missing out on as much as $172.7 million a year.
Online shoppers always have owed state sales taxes on their purchases, but the rule has been widely ignored. States have spent years examining ways to capture those lost tax dollars, but their options are limited when the retailers are not based in the state.
The Colorado Legislature found a possible solution in 2010 when it passed a law requiring online retailers to notify customers to pay sales tax and report purchases to the state. That's not the same as demanding tax payments from out-of-state retailers.
The Data and Marketing Association sued, and a federal judge put the law on hold in 2012. A year later, a federal appeals court sided with Colorado. The association appealed to the nation's highest court, arguing that the law would meddle in interstate commerce. The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case could have far-reaching implications for online shoppers.
Small Businesses Thrive on Quality Management. 2016.
Abstract
The health of U.S. small businesses is a key to the health of the U.S. economy. Small firms account for about half of the nation's gross domestic product and employ about half the workforce, so if they are struggling it is very hard for the economy as a whole to grow in line with its long-term trend?
A recent study "Quality management (QM) leads to healthier small businesses," published in the Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, explores how small businesses in the housing industry have embraced quality management approaches. Study authors William H. Murphy and Denis Leonard interviewed ten owners of small family-owned businesses who have won the National Housing Quality Award (NHQA), which is based on the Baldrige Excellence Framework and its criteria.
"Once small business owners realize that the QM journey is a sensible, necessary, business-changing journey, change can happen swiftly," write Murphy and Leonard. "Yet, truly seeing the truth of this claim and following up by changing one's business toward a QM journey is often a tough step for many small business owners to take. After all, small business owners are often extremely busy, with time-pressing commitments and little wiggle room for figuring out how to engage new platforms such as QM. Yet, as our interviews repeatedly revealed, life gets a lot easier for everyone once QM is part of the business."
As a whole, the small business owners interviewed in the study were "certain that positive outcomes follow" once a business implements QM; however, the owners did recognize some barriers to engagement. Small business owners recommend customizing tools and staying the course once started on QM.
According to Murphy and Leonard, "The first step toward launching QM is generally the hardest, as most businesses have to stumble along for a while before truly catching on to QM's logic and potential. And yet, by targeting easy projects and using a few tools from QM toolboxes, change for the better is soon realized. Over time, with a conviction gained by success and the developing belief that QM is a game changer for one's small business, owners may find themselves pushing their QM platforms in unexpected directions."