November 2017 round-up

Jeez, the days and weeks seem to roll into each other, faster and faster, as we approach the end of the year! They say that time flies when you are having fun, and I sure had some fun this month. We had some friends around for Bonfire Night. Then, I went to London with … Continue reading November 2017 round-up

When loyalty programmes backfire: loyalty, entitlement and complaints

Disappointed customers complain. And while really loyal customers may be more forgiving that others, when they do feel disappointed and complain, they are particularly difficult to recover. These general truths of business make it particularly important to understand disappointment in loyal customers. Researchers Xiaofei Li, Baolong Ma and Chen Zhou conducted a study about … Continue reading When loyalty programmes backfire: loyalty, entitlement and complaints

A trip down tech-memory lane: my 2002 report on interactive TV

When I was looking for an old file on my laptop, recently, I stumbled upon a report that I co-authored, 15 years ago, about interactive TV. Digital television (as opposed to analogue TV) had been around for just over three years, and interactive TV (i.e., digital TV with a return path from the consumer to … Continue reading A trip down tech-memory lane: my 2002 report on interactive TV

Use of screens among young children

Since today is World Television Day (yes, there really is a day for everything!), I thought that I would share with you some findings from the report “The Common Sense Census: Media Use By Kids Age Zero To Eight’, looking at media use by young children in the US. You can access the report here. … Continue reading Use of screens among young children

Three advantages of Twitter’s extended characters limit

After trialling it out with a handful of users, Twitter has increased the maximum length of tweets from 140 characters to 280, for all users. Some people expressed concern over how the additional capacity will be used by the trolls and harassers that litter the platform. Others have talked about the creative challenge … Continue reading Three advantages of Twitter’s extended characters limit

My PhD, 10 years on

This month (November 5th to be exact) marked the 10th anniversary of my PhD viva. I did my PhD at LSE with Dr James Backhouse, and investigated the profiling of undesirable customers (or customer screening). I looked at how organisations define who is a desirable customer, and who isn’t one; and the process that they … Continue reading My PhD, 10 years on

September and October 2017 round-up

I did not write a round-up post last month because I only “realised” that September had ended when we were well and truly into October. I think that every month should have some sort of celebration on its last day, like October has Halloween. Isn’t it great to end the month on a festive note … Continue reading September and October 2017 round-up

Book review: Paul Silvia’s How to Write a Lot

This is a short book (only 149, A5 pages), targeted at those that need to write in an academic context – papers, books, grant proposals, etc… As promised by the book’s full title - “How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing” – this book offers guidance on how to be … Continue reading Book review: Paul Silvia’s How to Write a Lot

Which branded tweets get most retweets?

Researchers at Western Sydney University in Australia – Alena Soboleva, Suzan Burton, Girijasankar Mallik and Aila Khan – have analysed the characteristics of branded tweets that get the most retweets. They collected tweets posted by the leading brands in the automotive, the luxury and the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries, and adjusted for factors … Continue reading Which branded tweets get most retweets?