Nerdy notes...

Psychology, Behavioral Science, Consumer Behavior, Neuroscience, Emotion, Sensory, Multisensory, Consulting, Research Design, Personal Reflections, Conferences Michelle Murphy Niedziela Psychology, Behavioral Science, Consumer Behavior, Neuroscience, Emotion, Sensory, Multisensory, Consulting, Research Design, Personal Reflections, Conferences Michelle Murphy Niedziela

A Nerdoscientist’s Year-End Guide to Conferences That Actually Matter

Now in thinking about the upcoming list of conferences I think that rather than asking “What’s the best conference?”, I think the better question is:
“What kind of thinking do I want to be exposed to right now?”

Read More
Psychology, Behavioral Science, Consumer Behavior, Neuroscience, Conferences, Artificial Intelligence, Research Design, Foresight Michelle Murphy Niedziela Psychology, Behavioral Science, Consumer Behavior, Neuroscience, Conferences, Artificial Intelligence, Research Design, Foresight Michelle Murphy Niedziela

From Fraud to Foresight: a Double-Edged Sword of Synthetic Data in Market Research

At this year’s AChemS meeting, I gave a talk on AI in sensory research. One of the demonstrations I gave was intentionally provocative: I asked ChatGPT to simulate a consumer research study using MaxDiff and Implicit Association Testing (IAT) to explore the perception of "freshness" in home fragrance products.

Let me be clear: the goal was not to fake data but to stress-test a study design. By simulating how people might respond, I wanted to explore gaps, assumptions, and how well our methods differentiated between products. Consider it a pilot study by proxy.

Read More