2018 Spring Conference
Bellwether Polling for Improved Election Forecasting
The authors describe a non-traditional, highly effective public opinion polling methodology offering improved election forecasts. As well as conducting state-wide polls, the Suffolk University Political Research Center polls in small electoral units, bellwethers, which historically exhibit voting patterns close to the actual election outcome. Bellwethers combined with state polls correctly forecast election outcomes in 97% of trials where a clear winner could be determined (i.e., no ties). The contribution of this work is to offer an open-source methodology for improving accuracy in election forecasting.

Elizabeth J. Wilson
Suffolk University

David A. Paleologos
Suffolk University
Consumer psychological testing in the age of data science
Market research has always been intrigued by psychological testing. Whether it’s projective tests or personality tests, marketers have tried to tap their use for better business advantages. But now, in a world that is exploding with data, how can we update psychological testing by merging it with data science? This talk will highlight the future possibilities of psychometrics for marketing.

Kenneth R. Faro, Ph.D.
Senior Manager of Research
Origin/Hill Holliday
High-Value Customer Segmentation
Market research has always been intrigued by psychological testing. Whether it’s projective tests or personality tests, marketers have tried to tap their use for better business advantages. But now, in a world that is exploding with data, how can we update psychological testing by merging it with data science? This talk will highlight the future possibilities of psychometrics for marketing.

Eric Rosenman
Principal IQVIA Consulting Services

Steven Blahut
Principal Scientific Advisor
IQVIA Consulting Services
Market Replication Models
A Case Study on Why Primary Research is Still Essential
We will show our recent analysis illustrating that dollar-for-dollar primary research still has the biggest impact on marketing and sales. Leading the list of most impactful research are studies assessing new products or product extensions. Then we will present a case study to show that only models that accurately replicate markets can accurately predict the opportunity for new product offerings.

Tim O’Rourke
Managing Partner Avidelo

Debbie Medvinsky
VP, Client Service Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience

Jennifer Weissman
CMO Boston Ballet

Angela McCue
Senior Manager of Field Operations Applied Marketing Science
Companies use digital tracking to understand path-to-purchase, media consumption and more. Few understand the power of Digital Tracking for trendspotting, and this provides unique insights about what consumers are doing online, how they’re engaging with competitors and more.
This session will provide a first-ever, in-depth look into actual shopper behaviors across many brand categories and across hundreds of retailers.

Peter Shafer
VP, Digital Toluna

David Intrator
Chief Meaning Officer RTi Research