**Abstract**

We present the research methodology that generates an integrated database of the mind of a dairy consumer, regarding nine different dairy products. The set of studies deals with a variety of end products, presenting alternative messages about each product. Respondents rate combinations of messages, that is, vignettes, which are created using an advanced form of conjoint analysis. OLS (ordinary leastsquares) regression is used to deconstruct the ratings at the level of the individual respondents, producing a coefficient value for each message that was tested. Cluster analyses revealed three distinct mind-sets around dairy products: a strong focus on flavor, a strong focus on health, and a strong focus on price. This chapter demonstrates how the science of Mind Genomics is further applied through a typing tool, known as PVI (personal viewpoint identifier). The PVI is able to identify the mindset of any individual that provides a binary response to six short questions. The chapter concludes with a vision for the future of the Mind Genomics research methodology in the fields of science and business.

**Keywords:** consumer, behavior

## **1. Introduction**

When one thinks of large-scale 'consumer research' in the world of products, such as dairy products, one is limited by that which exists, that which works, and of course that which one can afford. It should come as no surprise that the armory of knowledge about consumers and dairy come at once from observations of trends in the market, and at the same time large-scale segmentation studies, wherein the respondent is asked many questions about habits, practices, beliefs, and so forth; for instance, for dairy products, such data ground up into segmentation studies [1–3]. The result of both large-scale tracking of consumer behaviors, whether purchase or expressed attitudes, and deep studies of attitudes and behaviors produce for us a bewildering array of numbers, statistics, points to be talked about in presentations, and indeed a panoply of what might be called interesting consumer information.

Whereas there is an ongoing focus on the bigger world in which dairy 'plays', there is a parallel world of scientists focusing on the product itself. These are typically so-called sensory scientists, who study the properties of foods, using

laboratory methods to describe the food and the person-food interaction. In the words of R&D director, Dr. Al Bowles 'across the world there are literally file cabinets of data from research on the properties of dairy products' [personal communication to HRM, 1996].

Despite the increasingly impressive array of information about the world of dairy, whether from the trade and social research (e.g., brand tracking), and from the laboratory (preferences for specific sensory aspects of dairy products), there is an information desert when it comes to the mind of the dairy customer, not so much regarding behavior and to general attitudes, but rather to the specifics of a variety of different dairy products. By this we mean that we know a great deal of what's happening in the market, and in the product, but precious little about what is going on deeply in the mind, for dairy products and actually for most products, and even situations which constitute the warp and woof of everyday life.
