Avoiding confirmation bias in research: Insights from Capital One

This event report addresses how Capital One Labs, the innovation arm of the financial-services provider, seeks to cancel out the impact of confirmation bias when creating new products.

Avoiding confirmation bias in research: Insights from Capital One

Stephen WhitesideWarc

Consumers often tell marketing researchers one thing and then do something completely different.

But Emma Sagan, a product manager at Capital One Labs, warned delegates attending South by Southwest (SXSW) 2016 that similar traits also characterize the work of most marketing practitioners. "Our brains can play tricks on us, and maybe take us down the wrong path," she admitted.

Sagan's role at the financial-services group demands an in-depth understanding of customer attitudes and behavior, and how they could evolve. "We try and experiment on things that might be...

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