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Research undertaken at the University of East Anglia (UEA) has identified whether consumers are likely to switch supplier, whether they are likely to get a good deal, and how companies are likely to respond to specific regulatory intervention. Such research findings challenge regulators to make better decisions. An appropriate regulatory framework leads to better decisions by consumers, helping markets to work better, and resulting in lower prices and bills. This is particularly critical in the energy and water sector, which are of crucial importance to each of the 25 million households in the UK, and where implementation of some of these research findings could lead to reductions of 6% in household energy bills (which translates to a total saving of over £2.1 billion a year).
The methodological and applied work on micro-econometric demand analysis outlined here has been repeatedly used by the UK Competition Commission (since 2002) and the Co-operation & Competition Panel (now Monitor) of the UK Department of Health (since 2009) in their respective competition analyses, and by the Hong Kong Consumer Council in its Public Estate Supermarket Study (since 2011). It contributed to the European Commission White Paper on the quantification of antitrust damages (2010), underpinning some of the econometric methodology proposed there to assess cartel damages in EU Courts. Beckert's work in the area of micro-econometric demand analysis connects micro-economic demand theory with various econometric methodologies to assess demand-side substitution in the presence of taste heterogeneity. His research is disseminated through articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, policy articles, and through consultation by antitrust authorities, think tanks and economic consultancies.
The research of Professor Bentley and colleagues has developed a novel and practical analysis that commercial and government organisations can use to extract social network `signatures' and collective decision patterns from available data that were never intended to measure social influence or `decision fatigue' directly (such as sales figures, trend popularity statistics or other `big data'). Since Bentley's arrival to Bristol University in 2011, this research and impact have proceeded in parallel, as for example in multiple publications with Paul Ormerod, who is co-director of Volterra LLP, an influential consulting company whose direction was informed by this research with Ormerod. Other research was published in trade magazines (e.g., refs [f, g] below) shortly after academic publication (1-6), which led other organisations to follow in applying the methods of data analysis. For example, in 2011-12 Sony Electronics Europe (via Anomaly Communications, London) contracted this analysis of their sales data to distinguish market segments characterised by consumers looking toward `expert' opinion, versus segments in which indiscriminate copying was more prevalent, which fundamentally steered the segment-specific marketing strategies.
Targeted Projection Pursuit (TPP) — developed at Northumbria University — is a novel method for interactive exploration of high-dimension data sets without loss of information. The TPP method performs better than current dimension-reduction methods since it finds projections that best approximate a target view enhanced by certain prior knowledge about the data. "Valley Care" provides a Telecare service to over 5,000 customers as part of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and delivers a core service for vulnerable and elderly people (receiving an estimated 129,000 calls per annum) that allows them to live independently and remain in their homes longer. The service informs a wider UK ageing community as part of the NHS Foundation Trust.
Applying our research enabled the managers of Valley Care to establish the volume, type and frequency of calls, identify users at high risk, and to inform the manufacturers of the equipment how to update the database software. This enabled Valley Care managers and staff to analyse the information quickly in order to plan efficiently the work of call operators and social care workers. Our study also provided knowledge about usage patterns of the technology and valuably identified clients at high risk of falls. This is the first time that mathematical and statistical analysis of data sets of this type has been done in the UK and Europe.
As a result of applying the TPP method to its Call Centre multivariate data, Valley Care has been able to transform the quality and efficiency of its service, while operating within the same budget.
This research addresses unprecedented demographic challenges caused by an ageing population through the development of socially inclusive products and services that enhance the quality of living of older consumers (aged 50 and over).
Welfare & inclusion
- The Brunel University research team, led by Dr Spinelli, has helped the evaluation and development of products and services that enable older people to live more independently — through enhanced mobility, assisted communication and an improved range of choice to suit individual needs.
Commercial Impacts
- The research has formed a knowledge base that the charity `Age UK' has exploited to 1) develop the AGE UK business network "Engage" (including Handicare, BSkyB, Atoc, British Telecom, Virgin and Homebase) which, through company engagement, seeks to improve products and services for older consumers and to enable the application of inclusive design processes to product and service development, marketing and training and 2) underpin the principles of AGE UK Products and Service Accreditation schemes launched in 2012 to enhance quality and choice for older consumers.
Building Information Management (BIM) involves the creation and use of digital information about built assets. Mandated by UK and other governments because of its potential to reduce waste and optimise efficiency, its successful exploitation requires changes in construction technology and process. This research has had a transformational impact on both. Our technical research forms the basis of the National Library of BIM objects, as well as technological solutions and product developments for many organisations. Our work with UK and overseas governments has shaped industry's uptake of BIM. We have founded a centre of excellence to introduce BIM to practitioners and organisations, and created a commercial joint-venture consultancy company.
Research published by Pugh, Wyld and Tyrrall (2001) was adopted by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) to provide the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of their lobbying campaign for a sliding scale of excise duty for small breweries (also known as "progressive beer duty"; henceforth, PBD). This campaign led to the introduction of PBD in the 2002 Budget. Subsequent evaluation (Wyld, Pugh and Tyrrall, 2010) established that PBD has helped to generate new businesses (well over 100) and new jobs (at least several hundred) that otherwise would not have been brought into existence.
Cranfield's work on ethylene supplemented storage is now exploited in the supply chains to major supermarkets in the UK, including Waitrose and Tesco, reducing waste and avoiding volatility in supply for fresh food products such as onions and potatoes. By prolonging storage life by up to six weeks it is also having a positive impact on the UK's self-sufficiency in these products, displacing imports from overseas.
Complementary work has also led to commercial ethylene scrubbing technologies for packaging, which typically save around 50% of in-store waste and add two days to the product life for a range of fruit and vegetables. Such packing is now in use in most mainstream UK supermarkets, and in the USA where it has created a new export market for the manufacturer.
The School of Mathematics at Cardiff University has developed important statistical and mathematical models for forecasting consumer buying behaviour. Enhancements to classical models, inspired by extensively studying their statistical properties, have allowed us to exploit their vast potential to benefit the sales and marketing strategies of manufacturing and retail organisations. The research has been endorsed and applied by Nielsen, the #1 global market research organisation that provides services to clients in 100 countries. Nielsen has utilised the models to augment profits and retain their globally leading corporate position. This has led to a US$30 million investment and been used to benefit major consumer goods manufacturers such as Pepsi, Kraft, Unilever, Nestlé and Procter & Gamble. Therefore the impact claimed is financial. Moreover, impact is also measurable in terms of public engagement since the work has been disseminated at a wide range of national and international corporate events and conferences. Beneficiaries include Tesco, Sainsbury's, GlaxoSmithKline and Mindshare WW.
Loughborough University research into strategic marketing and customer engagement has resulted in the development of the Toyota Retail System (TRS), a comprehensive benchmarking toolkit for the retail activities of the world's largest automotive company. TRS has provided Toyota with resilient practices and a structured approach to merchandising across its dealer network, including customer interaction and showroom layout. It has also been used to analyse and transform Toyota's displays and presentations at the world's leading motor shows. TRS is now available to Toyota personnel and affiliates in more than 150 countries and has been described by the company as "fundamental" to its continuing success.