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It's October ... and that means one thing in America: Major League Baseball playoffs are set to begin. It means wall to wall broadcasts of games, massive advertising buys and gate receipts that means a serious stream of revenue for all of the teams, players and owners who made it through a long season and survived to be one of the dozen teams left to play for the Commissioner's Trophy. It's going to be a wild few weeks for baseball fans and the reporters covering the games. And if you're a journalist looking to know how important the marketing and business sides are to the the playoffs - then let us help with your stories. Kirk Wakefield, Ph.D., is The Edwin W. Streetman Professor of Retail Marketing at Baylor University, where he is the Executive Director of the Curb Center for Sales Strategy in Sports and Entertainment (S3E) program in the Hankamer School of Business. Kirk is available to speak with media - simply click on his icon ow to arrange an interview today.
Can the Olympics Help Americans Forget Politics (at Least for 16 Days)?
Americans are divided on a multitude of different issues, but could the Olympic Games unite the country – at least for the duration of an Olympiad? A Baylor University sports marketing and branding expert says yes, the Olympics can help bring people together even when it’s hard for them to agree about anything else. In his latest Forbes Sports Money column, Baylor University sports marketing and branding expert Kirk Wakefield, Ph.D., executive director of the Curb Center for Sales Strategy in Sports and Entertainment (S3E) program at Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, analyzed a July 8 national population poll that asked Americans questions about politics but also included the Steen Happiness Index (SHI). The 20-item happiness index provides a series of statements for participants to read and choose the one from each group that describes their state at that moment. Happiness items focus on three types of happy lives: the pleasant life (experiencing and savoring pleasures), the engaged life (losing the self in engaging activities) and the meaningful life (participating in meaningful activities). Are people happier when watching the Olympics? “Happy people follow the Olympics and people who follow the Olympics are happy people,” Wakefield wrote. The higher people scored on the happiness index, the more likely they are to: Watch at least some of the Olympics (49.75%) Root for the U.S. to win (31.8%) Follow the results of the Olympics (28.1%) Read stories about athletes in the Olympics (19.6%) Will talk with others about the Olympics events (18.7%) “Controlling for age, gender, income, education, race and marital status, Americans who follow the Olympics in one, two, or three of these ways are somewhat more happy people (+4% on the SHI). But those who follow the Olympics in four or all five of these ways are significantly happier people (+10% on the SHI),” Wakefield wrote. Who is happiest when the Olympics are on? The happiest? Those would be the Americans who love to talk about the Olympics with others while also cheering for U.S. athletes to win. In fact, they are about 14% happier than those who don’t follow the Olympics, according to the SHI. “Perhaps best of all, people of all political leaning and presidential preferences are equally likely to follow the Olympics. No matter the party, people can party together in unity following the Olympics,” Wakefield wrote. “Maybe we can’t forget politics. But we can give it a break to watch the Olympics.” ABOUT KIRK WAKEFIELD, PH.D. Kirk Wakefield, Ph.D., is The Edwin W. Streetman Professor of Retail Marketing at Baylor University, where he is the Executive Director of the Curb Center for Sales Strategy in Sports and Entertainment (S3E) program in the Hankamer School of Business. The author of Team Sports Marketing and founder of Wakefield Research Partners, Wakefield has conducted fan research on partnerships, pricing, promotions, sportscape, service, and anything else that explains why fans do what they do in nearly every venue in sports, including the NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, NHL and NASCAR. His scholarly works appear in a breadth of journals: Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research and Journal of Sport Management, among others. Wakefield is a regular contributor to Sports Money on Forbes.com. ABOUT THE CURB CENTER FOR SALES STRATEGY IN SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT (S3E) The Center for Sales Strategy in Sports and Entertainment (S3E) at Baylor University is the only program in the U.S. focused on generating revenue for sports. S3E graduates have career opportunities in sales, digital marketing or business analytics for major league teams, university athletics, corporations and agencies. Baylor is the only university combining learning with practice in partnership with the Athletics Department to prepare graduates for careers in the business of sports. The S3E program is unique in vision, values, mission and culture to transform the business of sports and entertainment. Consistent with the Christian mission and purpose of Baylor University, we prepare passionate servant leaders to positively influence lives in places people go to play or watch others play.
It Has to Matter Who Wins: Futurecasting the MLB All-Star Game
Globe Life Field in Arlington, home of the 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers, will play host to the 94th edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game on July 16, marking the second time in franchise history the Rangers will host the Midsummer Classic. MLB’s All-Star game – which matches up the best players from the American League and National League as selected by fans, managers and players – is considered one of best all-star contests among professional sports, said Kirk Wakefield, Ph.D., executive director of the Curb Center for Sales Strategy in Sports and Entertainment (S3E) program at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. However, the game faces continued headwinds, Wakefield said, ranging from lagging viewership to fan voting to a game that is more an exhibition than a meaningful game. Wakefield Weighs In: Five Thoughts on MLB's All-Star Game Is the MLB All-Star game the best All-Star contest of all major leagues? Wakefield: Yes, it’s the only one where players seem to try their best. The NBA and NFL – who have practically given up – have declining viewership since 2011. Unfortunately, MLB All-Star game is on the same downhill skid. (According to Statista, viewership has declined from 22 million in 1993 to seven million in 2023.) The reason why is it doesn’t really matter who wins. If the players don’t care who wins, neither will fans. Further, fans aren’t particularly a fan of only one league so that it really matters if one league has bragging rights. That was less the case years ago before interleague play. How could viewership improve in any of the All-Star games? Wakefield: It has to matter who wins. MLB tried this with home field advantage for the World Series. They gave that up. The current approach in baseball is truly an exhibition because every player gets to play, so it’s like three players at every position playing three innings. That’s not how a manager would play it if trying to win. And it’s not like it used to be when the starters (who were more likely to be the best at their positions) played longer. One suggestion I’ve heard is to make the payoff big enough for the winners so that the players gave it their best. Get a sponsor to put up the money so the winners each make seven figures and could be the players and managers will play more like a team trying to win. Does Monday’s prelude, the hugely popular Homerun Derby, enhance Tuesday’s game? Wakefield: The Homerun Derby is popular because fans do follow individual players. It matters more who wins. That said, the HR derby’s viewership has still lagged. Bottom line: Fans are loyal to teams more than to leagues or individual players. Fan voting… Need we say more? Wakefield: Major market teams with huge fan bases will dominate, but what about the Kansas City Royals, who at one point in the season were on pace for the biggest year-over-year improvement in wins and losses? Given the way fan voting has become essentially a promotion game to get more fans to vote more often, it’s hardly representative of anything other than largest markets with the best promoters. The good news is that the MLB All-Star game will be quite the occasion in Arlington, Texas, with a bevy of game-related activities and events July 13-16. Wakefield: Arlington is an optimal location central to the U.S. with plenty of space to blow out the occasion. It’s like the Texas State Fair came to baseball, where all the rides and attractions are baseball-happy. ABOUT KIRK WAKEFIELD, PH.D. Kirk Wakefield, Ph.D., is The Edwin W. Streetman Professor of Retail Marketing at Baylor University, where he is the Executive Director of the Curb Center for Sales Strategy in Sports and Entertainment (S3E) program in the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. The author of Team Sports Marketing and founder of Wakefield Research Partners, Wakefield has conducted fan research on partnerships, pricing, promotions, sportscape, service, and anything else that explains why fans do what they do in nearly every venue in sports, including the NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, NHL and NASCAR. His scholarly works appear in a breadth of journals: Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research and Journal of Sport Management, among others. Wakefield is a regular contributor to Sports Money on Forbes.com. ABOUT THE CURB CENTER FOR SALES STRATEGY IN SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT (S3E) The Center for Sales Strategy in Sports and Entertainment (S3E) at Baylor University is the only program in the U.S. focused on generating revenue for sports. S3E graduates have career opportunities in sales, digital marketing or business analytics for major league teams, university athletics, corporations and agencies. Baylor is the only university combining learning with practice in partnership with the Athletics Department to prepare graduates for careers in the business of sports. The S3E program is unique in vision, values, mission and culture to transform the business of sports and entertainment. Consistent with the Christian mission and purpose of Baylor University, we prepare passionate servant leaders to positively influence lives in places people go to play or watch others play.
NYS Budget Provisions May Protect Incumbent Democrats
Lawrence Levy, associate vice president and executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies, was interviewed by City & State New York about how Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget and focus on issues like affordable housing and retail theft may provide some protection for incumbent Democrats this November. The state budget may be designed to insulate Democrats from Republican attacks, but it’s not clear that it will be the deciding factor in various races. The 2024 election cycle is an entirely different beast than 2022. Two years ago, Hochul was at the top of the ticket in New York. This year, she’s not even on the ballot. That may actually be a boon for Democrats, as many observers credited her lackluster performance with negatively impacting races down ballot and the latest Siena College polling has her favorability and job approval ratings at all-time lows. Hochul notably did not stump for Suozzi during his high-profile race in February despite her role as de facto head of the state Democratic Party. And in the weeks following the state budget, she has only visited a swing district to celebrate her policy successes in the spending plan once. Instead, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump will be at the top of the ticket, and any thoughts about the specific policies included in the state budget could be reflected by voters’ sentiments about the two presidential candidates. “With the presidential campaign at the top of the ticket, I don’t think what Hochul does, or doesn’t do, will make a particular difference in any of the competitive congressional races,” said Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University. “Yes, she may be cited by Republicans along with several other high-profile Democrats as supposedly insensitive to their constituents on housing and crime, to see if that still sticks, but mostly it’s going to be about Trump and Biden.” May 13 - City and State New York Covering New York politics - we have experts ready to help with any of your questions and stories. Lawrence Levy is the Executive Dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University. He's available to speak with media - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
#Expert Insight: Here’s what can happen when dollar stores move in
Dollar stores - they're everywhere and on of America's fastest growing retail options. From the outside looking in, the idea of dollar stores seem like a win/win all around -- cheaper food, cheaper toys, and just about cheaper everything on offer to consumers looking to save money. However, recent research by UConn Professor Rigoberto Lopez might be pulling back the curtain on the bad deal these new outlets are selling to consumers and communities. Dollar stores have proliferated in recent years, and a study by a University of Connecticut economist has found that they contribute to less healthful food choices in the neighborhoods where they open. That’s because independent grocery stores tend to close in the same areas where the dollar stores open, according to professor Rigoberto Lopez, whose research focuses on agricultural economics. “The dollar store expanding is the fastest-growing retail format, and we also have seen a lot of family, independently owned grocery stores going out of business,” Lopez said. “So we try to link the two and to find not just a statistical correlation, but also we find that indeed when the dollar store comes to the neighborhood these stores tend to go out of business as well.” The low-priced dollar store — primarily Dollar General, Family Dollar and its subsidiary, Dollar Tree — “is the most successful type of format that is proliferating all across the United States, especially in rural areas and food deserts, which are the more underserved areas,” Lopez said. According to the study, published in Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, there were 35,000 dollar stores in the United States in 2019 and they were “among the few food retailers” that grew in revenue after the Great Recession of 2008-10, outperforming big box discounters and retail clubs. Between 2000 and 2019, dollar stores opening in a neighborhood resulted in a 5.7% drop in independent grocery store sales, a 3.7% decrease in employment and a 2.3% increase in the likelihood of the grocery stores closing, according to the research. The effects are three times more likely in rural than urban areas, the study found. The dollar stores tend not to offer fresh produce and meats, with foodstuffs being limited to canned and boxed goods. “In general they provide an unhealthier food assortment … and less services,” Lopez said. “They don’t have bakery, butchers, they don’t have a lot of these.” The article also discusses not just the economic aspects, but public health implications as well. Lopez said the dollar stores’ business model is “low prices, low cost, low quality. … But a lot of the food that they sell is not healthy. It’s processed foods that they can store. Keeping fresh food and vegetables costs money.” Dollar stores are not necessarily a negative, if there was not a grocery store in the area before, Lopez said. “Public health advocates, they’re against dollar stores, but a lot of people that visit the dollar store, they prefer to have a dollar store than not to have anything at all in some areas. … But in general … we find if they are driving some of the local businesses out, then that is the negative trend.” Food insecurity and the changing landscape of grocery stores are important topics, and if you have questions or are looking to cover, then let us help. Rigoberto Lopez is the DelFavero Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Connecticut's College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. He is an expert in food systems, marketing, industrial organization, and public policy. Simply click on his icon now to arrange a time to talk today.
Georgia Southern launches new merchandise line to benefit ‘Freedom’ and the Wildlife Center
“Freedom” merchandise is now available for purchase at Southern Exchange in Statesboro. Items will be available soon at the University Store on the University’s Armstrong and Statesboro campuses and in the gift shop at the Center for Wildlife Education located on the Statesboro Campus. Proceeds will benefit the Wildlife Center and Freedom’s care. Georgia Southern University is launching a new brand and merchandise line that will benefit and honor Freedom, the University’s live bald eagle mascot that flies before each home game in what many call the “most exciting 30 seconds in college football.” Unable to survive on his own because of an injury to his beak as a newborn, Freedom came to Georgia Southern in 2004 and now lives at the University’s Center for Wildlife Education in Statesboro alongside other eagles, raptors, reptiles and waterfowl. He will celebrate his 20th birthday this December. As an ambassador for Georgia Southern and symbol of our nation, Freedom has inspired thousands annually at the Center for Wildlife Education, Georgia Southern football games, the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Savannah, commencements, community events and other appearances, such as at the Charles Swab Classic PGA tour event earlier this year in Texas. To support Freedom and the Wildlife Center, University Communications and Marketing, Georgia Southern’s office of Athlete Brand Management and Licensing, the Wildlife Center and the university’s retail partners are collaborating to launch a new line of merchandise featuring Freedom. One shirt includes “Freedom’s Ride,” and depicts Freedom perched in the back of a 1977 International Scout often seen around town as it’s owned and driven by handler and Wildlife Center Executive Director Steve Hein. “Freedom belongs to Georgia Southern students, faculty, the Statesboro community and all those he encounters” Hein said. “It’s natural to want to express a unique relationship spanning 20 years and what better way to do this than by making his image available for people to wear and promote. I’m excited about this program, honored to be his plus-one, and greatly appreciate everyone’s support for Freedom, his care and his future.” The Freedom merchandise is designed to be both inspirational and stylish. Items are in development, but initial offerings could include: Hats T-Shirts Hoodies Posters Postcards Proceeds will benefit the Wildlife Center and Freedom’s care. Items will be available starting this week at Southern Exchange near the Georgia Southern campus in Statesboro and will be available soon at the University Store on the University’s Armstrong and Statesboro campuses and in the gift shop at the Wildlife Center located on the Statesboro Campus. Interested in learning more or looking to talk with Wildlife Center Executive Director Steve Hein? Simply click on his icon now or Contact Georgia Southern's Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.
Expert Insight: Fake News, Fake Reviews: Building Trust with Online Shoppers
Online customer reviews have become a critically important cog in the sales conversion process in recent years. Studies show that 97 percent of consumers read product reviews and ratings, and that positive reviews can almost triple the likelihood of making a purchase. As customers do more and more of their shopping online, they are turning in droves to the likes of Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google Reviews to seek out opinions, recommendations, and feedback from other users before pushing through the final part of the sales funnel. As a result, these third-party review sites have experienced exponential growth. But there’s a caveat: and it’s trust. The success of Yelp and its competitors is wholly contingent on how trustworthy their users perceive them to be; on the transparency and authenticity of the content published and the sources of that content. In an era of disinformation with fake reviews and AI mass-generated content precipitously on the rise, securing—and keeping—user trust is paramount. The Five Keys to Fighting Fakery Goizueta Business School’s Sandy Jap has some suggestions. Together with colleagues Ben Beck of Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Business and Stefan Wuyts of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, Jap, who is the Sarah Beth Brown Professor of Marketing, put together a series of studies to test the kinds of measures and mechanisms that platforms can deploy to win user confidence. And it turns out there’s one tactic that works more effectively than any other: actively monitoring the authenticity of user reviews. That and being open and transparent about doing so. Jap and her colleagues scoured the latest research and data on marketing, governance, and identity disclosure to pinpoint the mechanisms that best mitigate online fakery, while simultaneously building trust among platform users. They identified five. “We worked through the literature and were able to whittle these down to five core practices that are robustly effective at building trust,” says Jap. “They are monitoring, exposure, community building, status endowment and identity disclosure. Doing these five things can signal to your users that you are committed to being a guardian of their trust, so to speak.” Monitoring or evaluating reviews for their authenticity and exposing firms that pay for and propagate fake content are mechanisms directed at the rogue firms that spread fakery and misinformation, explains Jap. Meanwhile community building and status endowment focus on reviewers. Community building is about enabling authentic, transparent interactions between consumers and reviewers. An example of this might be allowing consumers to ask questions and reviewers to respond directly. “Status endowment is where a platform verifies and acknowledges the credibility or helpfulness of a reviewer in some way. Yelp and others use things like badges or reviewer ratings which are earned over time and which make it hard for fake reviewers to game their systems,” says Jap. Identity disclosure is the practice of having reviewers provide personal information—their name, picture, or location, for instance—before they can post content. And while this approach can keep fabrication and false profiles in check, it also raises certain tradeoffs, says Jap. “Anonymity online has long been understood as something of an un-inhibitor—a factor that enables users to speak more freely and openly. It can be democratizing in the sense that it removes or lessens prejudice and bias around things like race, social class, or physical appearance,” she says. “Of course, having people share personal data on your platform can also open up a can of worms around privacy and identity theft which are major considerations; so there’s a balancing act needed with this.” To test the efficacy of all five trust building policies, including identity disclosure, Jap and her colleagues ran a series of experiments and studies. They invited volunteers to rate how the presence or absence of these mechanisms impacted the trustworthiness of a platform. One study saw them parse things like domain authority and traffic across 25 online review sites against how many (or few) of the five mechanisms each deployed. Elsewhere, the team used surveys to assess how users ranked the different mechanisms in terms of platform trust, above and beyond other factors such as the quantity of reviews published say, or the expertise of different reviewers. The Bottom Line: Bust Bogus Reviews After crunching the data, Jap and her co-authors found that while all five trust-building mechanisms were valued and important to platform users, the practice of monitoring for fake reviews and reviewers—and broadcasting the fact clearly—was by far the most effective. “Doing all of these five things—monitoring, exposing, community building, status endowment and ID disclosure—are important if you want to earn and keep the trust of your users,” says Jap. “We found that the more of these mechanisms that platforms incorporate, the better their domain authority, Alexa site ranking, backlinks, and organic site traffic.” Based on our findings, monitoring your content and communicating that you’re doing this is by far the most powerful cue that you are trustworthy. So that’s where we’d say platforms might want to focus their spend. Many of the biggest review platforms have already taken note of these insights. Yelp recently shared a post to its official blog welcoming the finding that of the 25 sites analyzed in Jap’s study, theirs is one of two platforms that actively implement all five mechanisms. “After examining 25 review platforms, the study found that Yelp is one of two platforms that applies all five mechanisms and as the research states, has become a guardian of trust for review information.” Meanwhile, Jap stresses that these findings should be relevant to any business that is focused on “combating online review fakery.” “All businesses today face the challenge of managing their word-of-mouth reputation. Any firm interested in sharing and leveraging points of view around its products or services, be it a small online retail store or an Amazon, is going to want to go the distance—and be seen to do so—in going to war on fakery and disinformation.” Are you a journalist interested in learning more about the importance and trustworthiness of online reviews? Sandy Jap is available to speak with media - simply click on her icon now to arrange an interview today.
Holiday Season is Almost Here and Goizueta Business School has Holiday Experts Ready to Help
The holidays are the difference between operating in the red and operating in the black for many retail businesses. The Goizueta Business School has experts who can provide insight and expertise on a wide range of stories. Economics of the Holiday Season - Economist Tom Smith can discuss seasonal hiring, retail expectations, and the importance of the holiday season to retailers. Black Friday - Doug Bowman can discuss retail expectations and the importance of the holiday season to retailers. He expects this year shoppers will go to fewer stores and not travel long distances, delivery capacity will be an issue, and work from home/school purchases will be hot. AI Changing How We Shop - David Schweidel can discuss how new AI tools are changing how we shop and how brands are using AI to reach prospective customers. Product Reviews See Huge Increases: How Reviews Impact Holiday Shopping - What do reviews mean for the shopping experience and do reviews impact purchase? Reshma Shah can discuss the impact reviews have on the point of purchase. Product Returns - Marat Ibragimov can discuss the retail strategy and impact of holiday gift returns, comparing online returns to brick and mortar. Food and Travel Pricing - Saloni Firasta Vastani can discuss the cost of this year’s holiday dinners. What’s gone up and what’s gone down? She can also discuss the cost of travel this holiday season and what consumers can do to get a better deal. Avoiding Holiday Overspend - Rohan Ganduri can discuss how holiday shopping can expose consumers to credit products like store credit cards that offer various incentives to take up the credit card, often resulting in overspending. Ganduri can discuss his latest research paper on how taking up store credit cards can impact consumers’ future credit outcomes. Social Media & Advertising - David Schweidel can discuss how micro influencers work, how using product placement can cut through the advertising clutter, and the power of product reviews. The Constantly Changing Online Retail Experience - Styling videos, personal shoppers, messaging, and even Augmented Reality (AR) are being used to generate purchases. Doug Bowman can discuss how stores are reimagining the shopping experience to attract customers in person and online. Influencers Influencing Our Purchases - How are creators impacting the economy and are influencers impacting our purchasing decisions? Marina Cooley looks at the creator economy and how TikTok and Instagram are impacting our holiday wish lists and what it takes for a product to go from unknown to trending. She can also discuss how this holiday season will help normalize in-app TikTok shopping (something Instagram has struggled to execute on). How to Attract Customers to the Store this Holiday: Merging Online and In-person Experiences May be the Answer - Shopping looks different and it is up to retailers to stand out not just in the brick and mortar world but also online. The success of a business can balance on the customer experience. Reshma Shah can discuss the policies brick and mortar retailers need to have in place to successfully merge online shopping and the in-person shopping experience. To book your expert interview, call Kim Speece at (404) 849-6579 or email her at kim@leffassociates.com or simply click on the icon available. To find an expert on a specific topic, click the “Search” feature at https://goizueta.emory.edu/faculty/profiles. To check out other recent research, visit https://www.emorybusiness.com/faculty-research/.
The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Customer Experience
Gaurav Jain, assistant professor of marketing at the Rensselaer Lally School of Management, examines how individuals make judgments, estimates, and decisions in the absence of complete information. Previously, Jain served as the chief marketing advisor at multiple firms. Below are his thoughts on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on customer experience. Voice of the Customer In today's hyper-connected world, the voice of the customer (VoC) is louder and clearer than ever. But how do we sift through this cacophony to understand what our customers are really saying? Enter AI. It's revolutionizing the way customer experience teams handle VoC programs, and as a marketing leader, I find this incredibly exciting. Take direct customer feedback, for example. We're no longer just collecting survey responses and storing them in a database for quarterly review. AI algorithms, particularly those using natural language processing, are helping us instantly categorize and prioritize this feedback. Imagine an e-commerce platform that can immediately flag a customer's mention of "late delivery" in a post-purchase survey. That's not just efficient; it's customer-centric. But what about the things customers are saying when they're not directly talking to us? That's where AI-driven sentiment analysis comes in. These tools can scan social media, forums, and review sites to gauge the sentiment behind a customer's words. I've seen hotel chains use this technology to monitor travel forums and review sites. If a guest mentions "noisy rooms," even without lodging a direct complaint, the brand can proactively look into soundproofing solutions. Then there's inferred feedback, the kind you get by reading between the lines. AI can analyze customer behavior, like frequent page visits without conversion or cart abandonment, to suggest what might be going wrong. For instance, an online fashion retailer could use AI to figure out why a particular dress gets a lot of views but few purchases. Maybe it's the sizing, maybe it's the price, but the point is, you get to know without having to ask. And it doesn't stop at gathering feedback. AI is helping us turn this raw data into actionable insights. We can predict future behavior, like churn rates, based on past feedback. This allows us to be proactive rather than reactive, which is a game-changer in customer experience management. Finally, let's talk about what happens after we've gathered all this feedback. AI is ensuring that every customer who takes the time to share their thoughts receives an immediate and appropriate response. Chatbots can handle common queries or concerns, making the customer feel heard and valued right away. So, from the perspective of a marketing leader, it's not just about the efficiency that AI brings to VoC programs. It's about the opportunity to deepen our connection with customers. By truly understanding their words, their sentiments, and even their behaviors, we can craft experiences that resonate on a human level. And in a world that's increasingly digital, that human touch is what sets a brand apart. Customer Service It's truly intriguing to observe how AI is weaving its way into the customers’ experience. Online, chatbots are making waves. Chatbots are not just digital tools; they're our first point of contact, bridging the gap between brands and consumers. However, there was always the question of accuracy versus efficiency while managing these chatbots – AI has answered that question. AI chatbots provide real-time yet accurate assistance, making the digital shopping journey feel more interactive. Companies can reduce customer dropout while avoiding the expense of managing a large human customer service team. AI is revolutionizing phone-based customer service as well. Voice recognition allows natural language processing for easier navigation, while predictive analysis anticipates caller needs based on their history. Enhanced personalization means customers no longer repetitively provide account details, and emotion detection aids in gauging caller mood. The result? Reduced wait times, more efficient interactions, and a significantly improved telephonic customer experience. In essence, AI is bridging the gap between technology and human touch in the retail world, making our interactions with brands more meaningful and personalized. Again, companies can do this in a cost-effective manner. Jain is available to speak with media - - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
It's only been since January, but the cannabis industry in Connecticut is already a hit among consumers. There was initial worry that the quick expansion of stores and dispensaries could potentially blunt the long-term success of the retail aspect of the product in the state, but according to UConn's Fred Carstensen concerns about the oversupply seen in neighboring states is not a worry. “It’ll take three to four years to see how the market develops,” said Carstensen, a professor at University of Connecticut and the director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis. In an article that goes into great detail, Carsten told the Stamford Advocate about the many factors and influences that can impact what has been a volatile market in some states since legalization became the trend. And as the state government checks the expansion of Connecticut’s adult-use cannabis market, Carstensen said local governments do the same. He said it wouldn’t matter if Connecticut’s retail cannabis scene was over-licensed, under-licensed, or just right. “Every municipality has the right to say yea or nay (to retailers),” Carstensen said. But he said an estimated 69 cannabis retailers in the Nutmeg State’s pipeline will make the bigger picture clearer. “(Then) it's pretty much available to everybody on a relatively short-travel basis,” Carstensen said. “Then we'll actually know what the market is.” Regulation and observation will be key to measure the success or failure of the market. Carstensen said that as the Nutmeg State’s market matures, retailers will “pull that business back into Connecticut when we become more competitively priced.” Peake agreed that “as (more Connecticut retailers) open up, we can probably expect the vast majority of those folks to be buying cannabis in Connecticut.” And Carstensen said that as much as interstate cannabis purchases skew understanding Connecticut’s market, it also serves as a check on oversaturating the Nutmeg State’s cannabis economy... And, Carstensen said, if there were too many cannabis dispensaries, "the market will tell us." "They’ll close,” the economics professor said. If you're a journalist looking to know more about this emerging industry in Connecticut and beyond, let us help. Fred Carstensen is a University of Connecticut professor and director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis. He is a renowned an expert in the areas of public policy, economic history, and economics. Simply click on his icon now to arrange a time to talk today.
