The Washington Post
Naked Truth Meets Market Research

…But these days, companies eager to leapfrog ahead of the competition spend big bucks in search of the life experience that will lead them to the next big thing. Many do it through "observational research." "It's a technique that gives irrevocable cues beyond what people say they want and need into what they really want and need," said Ralph Oliva, a marketing professor at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State. "It can be very telling in certain situations." For information on how to receive the full story, contact Steve Infanti in the Smeal College Media Relations' Office at smi3@psu.edu .

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REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Wyatt DuBois in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or wed112@psu.edu .

Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, marketing, insurance and real estate, management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the eBusiness Research Center, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.

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