The School of Management (SOM) is opening a new research center devoted to the behavior of customers: The Yale Center for Customer Insights (YCCI), which will bring together industry leaders and scholars from multiple disciplines to focus on joint research relevant to the marketplace.
The co-directors of the new center are Ravi Dhar, professor of marketing at SOM and professor of psychology, and Dick R. Wittink, the George Rogers Clark Professor of Management and Marketing at SOM and editor of the Journal of Marketing Research.
"Research shows that the most critical dimension that separates the success and failure of new products and services relates to superior insights into customer needs and preferences, and putting this focus in the center of a firm's strategic decision making," says Dhar. "Tapping into these complex areas requires the expertise of multiple disciplines.
"For example," he adds, "psychology informs how emotion and reason influence purchase decisions. Sociology gives insight into shared values and perceptions. The center is distinguished by its ability to draw on the breadth and depth of world-class researchers throughout Yale and beyond to better understand how customers think and act."
Current research by YCCI fellows -- who include experts in economics, psychology, marketing and finance -- examines how individuals choose among financial planning options, the effects of marketing activities on the demand for prescription drugs, shopping patterns on the Internet, and the link between customer satisfaction and purchase behavior.
The center's first major research project, in partnership with IBM, deals with the difference between selling products and selling solutions.
"As product and service choices proliferate and information sources expand, the development of better tools for understanding shopping and purchase decisions is critical to successfully meeting and anticipating customer needs. The center will be an important force in bringing these tools into practice," says William Pace, chief executive officer (CEO) of Kurt Salmon Associates, a global consulting firm specializing in the retail, consumer products and healthcare industries, who has been named chair of the YCCI Advisory Board.
According to Wittink, the center is committed to connecting researchers with practitioners. "We want to create a highly collaborative environment that encourages the interaction between researchers who are generating new knowledge about customers in an interdisciplinary manner and the users of that knowledge within companies, government agencies, non-profits and institutions," he says. "To make this happen, YCCI wants to work with executives starting with the initial phase of a research project. We are interested in building a team of affiliates to partner with us."
The center recently hosted its first annual collaborative research conference for academics and managers. The two-day event was co-sponsored by the Marketing Science Institute and the Journal of Marketing Research and drew participants from more than seven countries.
In addition to Pace, members of the center's advisory board are: David Daniel, CEO of Spencer Stuart; James A. Firestone, president of Xerox North America and senior vice president of Xerox Corporation; Thomas E. Gage, founding contributor to the YCCI and senior vice president and general manager of Verisign Communications; John L. Lindsey, president of Thomas Publishing International; Tim Love, president of Global Clients and co-chair of G1 Worldwide, TBWA World; Dr. Anil Menon, vice president for marketing strategy and worldwide marketing management at IBM; and Laura R. Walker, president and CEO of WNYC Radio.
For more information about the Yale Center for Customer Insights, visit www.cci.som.yale.edu.
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