Can thousands of everyday consumer reviews reveal the behavioral mechanisms behind real-world food choices?

Using Behavioral Topic Mapping, we analyzed Amazon chip reviews to move beyond preference and uncover how sensory experiences, habits, emotions, and context shape snack consumption.

Behavioral mechanisms are explanations.

Once you begin looking for those mechanisms, something interesting happens. You stop asking what consumers said and start asking what generated those experiences in the first place.

That's where innovation becomes much more interesting.

Because once you understand the mechanism, you aren't limited to solving today's problem. You can begin anticipating tomorrow's.

Trend reports tell us what consumers are talking about today, but not necessarily where behavior is headed tomorrow. Learn how Behavioral Topic Mapping combines behavioral science and AI-assisted pattern recognition to uncover the motivations, tensions, and unmet needs that connect seemingly unrelated consumer trends.

I was super excited for this meeting since it’s sorta in my backyard (I live in the Philly suburbs). But also because I got to be part of the organizing committee.

I walked into ISN nervous, unsure how I’d fit among such an extraordinary roster. I walked out feeling energized, inspired, and grateful to have contributed.

Two days of rich, cross-disciplinary science reminded me that understanding food, flavor, and behavior requires more than treating people like machines. We need to embrace the quirks, the biases, and yes, even the cookie stomachs, that make us human.