Continuing Education

February 2012

The Psychology of Consumer Preference, Liking and Emotion in Product Choice

The new 2-day course will examine the key questions in consumer science. The measures used for consumer preference, liking and emotion will be examined critically in terms of their psychology. What liking and emotions questions really tell us about predicting consumer behavior in the marketplace? What does the consumer’s brain do when answering liking, preference and emotion questions? How does it process the necessary information? How does knowledge of this allow us to design more meaningful test methods? Should some of the well-used traditional measures be quietly put to rest? Can we do better? What better methods are available? Can you get scaling data without scaling? Should emotions really be such a hot topic? What is the best approach to predicting consumer choice? What are the other guys doing? The course will present new ideas and will be interactive with illustrative examples.

Location: MEDIASITE 42, rue Legendre 75017 Paris, France
From: February 14, 2012 to February 15, 2012
Offered by: Dr. Hal MacFie Consulting
Target audience: Beginner
Cost: 1200 Euros; 25% discount for members of academia

Further information: http://www.halmacfie.com/pages/paris14feb2012.html

March 2012

Advertising Claims Support: Case Histories and Principles

Designed for attorneys, product developers, and advertising and marketing executives, this course provides an overview of the basic principles through case histories of what is required to support advertising claims. Offered over two days, the course covers National Advertising Division (NAD) cases on the first day and litigated cases on the second. The discussions will be led by experts in the design and interpretation of surveys and product tests designed to support product claims. Speakers represent expert opinion, internal and external legal opinion, the corporate scientific view and the NAD perspective. Dr. Daniel Ennis, who will give the expert witness perspective, will lead a team of experienced speakers: David Mallen, Annie Ugurlayan & Kathryn Ferrara – Attorneys from the NAD, Don Lofty - Internal Counsel for S.C. Johnson, Lawrence Weinstein – Litigation Partner of Proskauer Rose, and Christopher Cole – Litigation Partner of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. This course is approximately 14 credits of continuing legal education.

Location: The Cloister in Sea Island, Georgia, United States
From: March 5, 2012 to March 6, 2012
Offered by: The Institute for Perception
Target audience: Intermediate
Cost: $1950; 50% discount applied to each additional registrant from the same company

Further information: http://ifpress.com/short-courses/

Design & Analysis of Sensory & Consumer Experiments

A three-day intensive and practical workshop that is designed to provide participants with the fundamental concepts and the practical approaches necessary to enable them to design, analyze, report and interpret results from discrimination, descriptive and consumer experiments. Strategies for investigating data relationships such as the links between consumer language and descriptive/analytical product information also are introduced. Examples based on actual studies are presented throughout the course. Critical issues, potential problems and their solutions are illustrated in multiple case studies, where participants are encouraged to apply their knowledge through real-life examples.

Location: Sensory Spectrum, 554 Central Avenue, New Providence, New Jersey, United States
From: March 7, 2012 to March 9, 2012
Offered by: Sensory Spectrum
Target audience: Beginner
Cost: $2,250 USD

Further information: See page 7 in the 2012 Course Booklet; http://www.sensoryspectrum.com/docs/SensorySpectrum2012CourseBooklet.pdf

A Powerful Framework for Sensory Product Testing

In this 3-day course, you will achieve a deeper understanding of traditional discrimination and rating methods by learning a common framework in which to interpret results across methodologies. In particular, you will learn how to select the most suitable and powerful discrimination methodology based on project objectives, how to develop standards to detect when sensory differences and ratings exceed a consumer-relevant acceptability threshold, how to assess and manage risks in product testing decisions, and effectively use the “no preference/difference” option. Invited speakers include Dr. Michael O’Mahony, Food Science and Technology professor at UC Davis and Mr. Frank Rossi, Associate Director, Applied Quantitative Sciences at Kraft Foods.

Location: The Williamsburg Lodge in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
From: March 26, 2012 to March 28, 2012
Offered by: The Institute for Perception
Target audience: Intermediate
Cost: $1350; 50% discount applied to each additional registrant from the same company, Academic discount available

Further information: http://ifpress.com/short-courses/

Descriptive Analysis and Panel Training

In this 1.5 day course, you will learn new product profiling techniques through an in-depth exploration of descriptive panel methodologies. Specifically, you will connect a substantial body of research from the fields of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience to the field of descriptive analysis and panel training. During this course you will understand and identify the strengths and weaknesses of descriptive analysis; reach beyond traditional techniques to improve panel training; learn to know your panelists better through advanced panel monitoring techniques; and become familiar with novel applications of descriptive analysis to category appraisal projects. Invited speakers include Dr. F. Gregory Ashby, Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology, UC Santa Barbara.

Location: The Williamsburg Lodge in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
From: March 29, 2012 to March 30, 2012
Offered by: The Institute for Perception
Target audience: Intermediate
Cost: $850; 50% discount applied to each additional registrant from the same company, Academic discount available

Further information: http://ifpress.com/short-courses/