Dectech new research approach developed to predict markets and improve strategy in uncertain times

LONDON, July 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Behavioural science specialists Decision Technology (Dectech) have distilled twenty years of experience in predicting consumer behaviour to create a new research approach for developing commercial strategy.

In our new white paper, Dectech explores the difficulties in predicting consumer behaviour and presents a new approach, Behaviourlab, an immersive online, behavioural methodology that generates better market forecasts by replicating the real-world environment that people experience.

Behaviourlab solves the weaknesses found in typical focus groups and surveys, whilst leveraging the power of randomised controlled trials, and circumventing the constraints of live trials such as A/B Testing.

Professor Nick Chater, Co-Founder of Dectech and Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, commented:

"Decades of academic research have shown that people cannot accurately report the reasons for their decisions by reflecting on their own thoughts and feelings. This means that introspective approaches, such as focus groups, are wholly unsuitable for determining what people will do.

"People are easily swayed by the context in which a decision is made. For example, credit card repayments rise 62% when minimum payment details are set in the background vs. being emphasised. Survey methods that do not account for context mislead companies by missing seemingly irrelevant details that are present when people make real decisions."

Organisations thrive or fall by the quality of their decision making. Strategies based on bad research are costly, particularly so given Covid-19 uncertainty. It is paramount that, with lockdown easing, organisations understand how consumers will behave.

Dr Henry Stott, Co-Founder and Director of Dectech, continued:

"We developed Behaviourlab to address these weaknesses. Because it replicates real-world environments faced by customers it provides extraordinarily accurate forecasts. It can answer questions that are impossible to live trial, such as overhauling products and services, and competitor offerings. Moreover, Behaviourlab is both fast to deploy and scalable. This is crucial in today's fast-moving world, where there is need for timely and accurate insight.

"We've used Behaviourlab to reverse the weekly loss of 10,000 customers for a large energy provider by testing the dynamics of a comparison site. Testing users' experiences on an insurer's online sales journey boosted conversions by 30%. And trialling product innovations at a food delivery company generated £8mm in additional annual revenues."

Notes for editors

Full paper at: https://www.dectech.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/200702-Behaviourlab-Guide-SinglePage.pdf

For more information:

Henry Stott
020 7193 9812
[email protected]