In an era where our decisions are more likely to be informed by the tastes of people we follow or like, than billboards and tv adverts; data analysis and behavioural tracking is becoming big business. Alex Bentley and his colleagues have advanced the development of a novel & practical analysis that commercial and government organisations can use to extract social network ‘signatures’ and collective decision patterns. They are capturing and interpreting available data that was never intended to measure social influence or ‘decision fatigue’ directly such as sales figures, trend popularity statistics or other ‘big data’.

As an example, the analysis of sales or popularity data can be used to distinguish groups of  consumers who seek out ‘expert’ opinions, versus those who prefer to indiscriminately copy the most popular option presented. This sort of understanding of human behaviour and herd mentality has fundamentally steered the segment-specific marketing strategies of many organisations.

This Lunchtime Talk is part of Open Studio Friday, which takes place at the Studio every week.

Do you want to find out what is going on at the Pervasive Media Studio? Are you interested in meeting our residents, talking about a specific project or curious about pervasive media? Why not pack a sandwich and join us for one of our Lunchtime Talks and Open Studio Friday.

Lunchtime Talks are informal presentations by Studio residents and associates. They normally take place at 1pm on Friday, are free and open to everybody who’s interested in what we do.

After the Talk, we also invite you to stay with us for the afternoon to continue the conversation or work on your own projects. We provide chairs, tables, wireless and a great space. You bring what you need to work with (laptop/mobile). Our open afternoons close at 5pm.

Let us know if you’d like a tour of the space and we'll be happy to show you around. Send an email to admin@pmstudio.co.uk