March 2013

The dynamic nature of the relationship between consumers’ needs and what the market place offers is the key to discovering where the white spaces lie for your future innovation. Understand the fine balance of this relationship, and you can prepare the best ground on which to stake your …

Cambridge University and the Microsoft Research Centre have discovered that Facebook Likes can be used to predict a variety of personal attributes including religion, politics, race and sexual orientation. Their research involved 58,000 Facebook users in the US who completed a …

It’s easy to forget that social media is only around a decade old. Its phenomenal growth in that time has changed our lives in many ways – not least when it comes to how we shop. It also continues to evolve and staying close to its innovation is vital for marketers. The path to purchase now …

At GfK Consumer Trends, we find that price isn’t the sole motivation for many consumers, and that perception of value is a key factor that drives purchase decisions.  Simply put, it can’t just be cheap – consumers want affordable products yet don’t want to compromise too much on quality or …

The relationship between consumers and brands have become more complex and tightly knit over the last decade. Marketers walk a fine line between sustaining and enhancing the bond, and not being pushy or building false hopes. In order for the relationship with a brand to work, as with any …

In August 2012, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) unveiled new certification and meaningful use requirements for electronic health records (EHRs). According to these requirements, vendors’ submissions must include (a) evidence of user-centered design …

Until recently, the targeted ad was the only example of contextual technology experienced by most people. Invented in the mid-90s, it attempted to match adverts to people by analyzing their search terms and frequently visited websites. However, the algorithm fails to take into account the type …

Finding new ways to get the most out of shopper insights is a perplexing issue for today’s retailers and manufacturers. Most feel they have plenty of data and information (almost to the point of overload!)—but many still grapple with how to get the most out of the insights they have invested …

If you think it’s impossible to predict innovation, think again. Do you remember when Bluetooth first appeared on the market? How many can say, hand on heart, that they truly understood the particular bundle of benefits it offered? But once the idea that data could be shared and exchanged …

In February, a host of our experts attended the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one of the world’s biggest and best exhibitions for the mobile industry. Arndt Polifke, Global Director for Telecommunications, and Reg Cox, Data Partnerships Director, were among our representatives at …

At GfK, we have been following consumers across their online and offline purchase journeys in various industries. From the initial trigger right through to the final purchase, we track online and offline paths to purchase for a vast variety of products. This delivers a distinctly comprehensive …

It is fair to say that television is undergoing significant change. Consumers can choose from an ever-growing wealth of content, and the ways this content can be consumed are constantly evolving. The success of BBC iPlayer and Netflix are just two examples that highlight how we no longer have …