Methods and systems for gathering market research data within commercial establishments
First Claim
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1. A method for monitoring the presence and/or movements of participants in a market research study, comprising:
- providing signal transmitters at predetermined locations within a commercial establishment to wirelessly transmit location signals associated with the locations, wherein the signal transmitters are adapted to not transmit the respective location signals when the presence of a participant is not detected;
providing a wireless receiver to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the wireless receiver being adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants and operative to receive respective ones of the location signals only when in a vicinity of each of the locations;
gathering data in the wireless receiver representing exposure of respective ones of the participants to one of media data and outdoor advertising;
associating time data with each of the respective ones of the location signals corresponding to a time of reception thereof; and
storing the received respective ones of the location signals and the associated time data within the wireless receiver for use in the market research study.
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Abstract
Methods and systems for tracking movements of participants in a market research study, for example, within a commercial establishment, are provided. The methods and systems employ portable monitors carried on the persons of the participants to gather location data.
282 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring the presence and/or movements of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing signal transmitters at predetermined locations within a commercial establishment to wirelessly transmit location signals associated with the locations, wherein the signal transmitters are adapted to not transmit the respective location signals when the presence of a participant is not detected; providing a wireless receiver to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the wireless receiver being adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants and operative to receive respective ones of the location signals only when in a vicinity of each of the locations; gathering data in the wireless receiver representing exposure of respective ones of the participants to one of media data and outdoor advertising; associating time data with each of the respective ones of the location signals corresponding to a time of reception thereof; and storing the received respective ones of the location signals and the associated time data within the wireless receiver for use in the market research study. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A system for monitoring the presence and/or movements of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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a plurality of signal transmitters provided at predetermined locations within a commercial establishment to wirelessly transmit location signals associated with the locations, wherein the signal transmitters are adapted to not transmit the respective location signals when the presence of a person is not detected; and a plurality of monitors each adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants in the market research study, wherein each of the monitors comprise; a wireless receiver operative to receive respective ones of the location signals only when in a vicinity of each of the locations, a clock for producing time data associated with each of the respective ones of the location signals when received by the wireless receiver, and a memory coupled to the wireless receiver and to the clock for storing (a) data representing exposure of the participant to one of media data and outdoor advertising, and (b)the received respective ones of the location signals and the associated time data within the wireless receiver for extraction and use in the market research study. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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5. A method of gathering data representing customer behavior in a commercial establishment, comprising:
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providing a layout map representing a plurality of locations within a commercial establishment, wherein each location includes a signal transmitter for transmitting location signals associated with the locations, and wherein at least one of the signal transmitters is adapted to not transmit the respective location signals when the presence of a panelist is not detected; providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of panelists participating in a customer behavior study to be worn thereby; gathering panelist presence data in the portable monitors representing a presence of respective ones of the panelists at identified ones of the locations within the commercial establishment, wherein the presence data further comprises data representing exposure of respective ones of the panelists to one of media data and outdoor advertising; and associating the panelist presence data with the plurality of locations represented by the layout map. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for monitoring activity of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a plurality of signal transmitters at respective locations within a commercial establishment, each of the signal transmitters operative to wirelessly transmit a respective location signal, wherein the signal transmitters are adapted to not transmit the respective location signals when the presence of a participant is not detected; providing to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study a respective wireless receiver operative to receive respective ones of the location signals transmitted by the signal transmitters when the participants move throughout the commercial establishment; gathering data in the wireless receiver representing exposure of respective ones of the participants to one of media data and outdoor advertising at the respective locations; associating time data with each of the respective ones of the location signals corresponding to a time of reception thereof; and storing by the wireless receiver data representing the location signals received by the wireless receiver and associated time data for use in the market research study. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for monitoring activity of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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a plurality of signal transmitters disposed at respective locations within a commercial establishment, each of the signal transmitters operative to wirelessly transmit a respective location signal only when the presence of a participant is detected by the signal transmitter; a plurality of wireless receivers, each of the wireless receivers being carried by a respective one of a plurality of participants in the market research study and operative, when disposed in the commercial establishment, to receive respective ones of the location signals transmitted by the signal transmitters, gather respective ones of data representing exposure to one of media data and outdoor advertising, associating respective time data corresponding to a time of reception of the location signal in each wireless receiver and to store data representing the received location signals and associated time data. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for monitoring activity of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a plurality of signal transmitters on or within proximity to respective products or advertisements related to a commercial establishment, each of the signal transmitters operative to wirelessly transmit (a) a respective transmitter ID signal associated with a respective one of said products or advertisements, and (b) a location signal associated with the respective location of the product or advertisement, wherein the location signal is not transmitted if the presence of a participant is not detected; providing to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study a respective wireless receiver operative to receive a transmitter ID signal and location signal transmitted by one of the signal transmitters when in proximity to said one of the signal transmitters, wherein the wireless receiver gathers data representing exposure to one of media data and outdoor advertising representing respective products or advertisements, and wherein the wireless receiver associates time data with each of the location signals corresponding to a time of reception of a respective one of the location signal and ID signal; and storing by the wireless receiver data representing each of the transmitter ID signals, location signals and time data received by the wireless receiver. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of gathering market research data in a portable monitor carried by a panelist in a market research study, comprising the steps of:
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receiving location signals from a plurality of signal transmitters associated with specific locations within a commercial establishment, wherein a respective location signal will not be received from the transmitter if the portable monitor'"'"'s presence, in the vicinity of the respective location, is not detected by the transmitter; associating time data with the respectively received location signal corresponding to a time of reception thereof from a respective signal transmitter; producing presence data within the portable monitor indicating presence of a panelist at the specific locations; and producing one of media data exposure data and outdoor advertising exposure data using the presence data and associated time data within the portable monitor for use in the market research study. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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Specification