How do companies figure out what consumers want? For example, when you look at all the different types of spaghetti sauce in the grocery store, do you wonder how the endless varieties were developed? In many cases, the companies may have just guessed, but they also may have used methods developed by Howard Moskowitz, an expert in the field of psychophysics, and author of the upcoming book Selling Blue Elephants. He joins Phil, Matt, and Scott in a discussion of his research.
Working first to help develop better food for the military, Dr. Moskowitz developed an accurate way to measure what people want. Using RDE (Rule Development Experimentation), he was able to create a model that showed what individuals preferred in consumer products. He talks about how his methods differ from focus groups, as well as how he was able to verify their success.
He also assesses how technology might take advantage of RDE. Dr. Moskowitz also talks about how China and the west are drifting farther apart as the East continues to hunger for success, while the west continues to be complacent. The discussion is both enlightening and thought-provoking.
Howard Moskowitz is the CEO of i-Novation Inc as well as President of Moskowitz Jacobs Inc., a firm he founded in 1981. He is both a well-known experimental psychologist in the field of psychophysics and an inventor of world-class market research technology. Dr. Moskowitz graduated Harvard University in 1969 with a Ph.D. in experimental psychology. Prior to that he graduated Queens College (New York), Phi Beta Kappa, with degrees in mathematics and psychology. He has written/edited sixteen books, has published well over 300 articles and serves on the editorial board of major journals.
His latest book with co-author Alex Gofman, Selling Blue Elephants (Wharton School Publishing) demonstrates and popularizes how IdeaMap (i-Novation`s flagship product) creates new products and messages. Dr. Moskowitz has won numerous awards, among them the Scientific Director`s Gold Medal for outstanding research at the U.S. Army Natick Laboratories, and the 2001 and 2003 awards by ESOMAR (European Society Of Market Research) for his innovation in web-enabled, self-authored conjoint measurement, and for weak signals research in new trends analysis and concept development.
In 2004, Dr. Moskowitz was elected as an IFT Fellow, and also was awarded the "David R. Peryam Award", from ASTM, in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of basic and applied sensory science. In 2005, Dr. Moskowitz was awarded the Charles Coolidge Parlin Marketing Research Award for his substantial contributions and dedication to the advancement of marketing research practices. Most recently, he is the recipient of the ARF Research Innovation Award and The Market Research Council Hall of Fame Award, both in 2006. From November 2004 to November 2006, Dr. Moskowitz appeared weekly on ABC News Now as the Food Doctor. His segment highlighted the most innovative and interesting aspects of the food industry.
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