The Curiosity Current: A Market Research Podcast

Understanding consumer behavior requires looking beyond what people say and predicting what they will do. In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Lucio Lamberti, Full Professor at Politecnico di Milano, explores how the brain uses expectations to interpret the world, why breaking those expectations can create learning and engagement, and what neuroscience can reveal that traditional market research may miss. He also examines how AI could reshape consumer decision-making, why contradictory research findings deserve closer attention, and why understanding the reasons behind behavior matters more than prediction alone.

Great research requires looking beyond what people say to understand why they behave the way they do. In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Kelli Rempel, Principal and Founder of Hana Worldwide, discusses why qualitative research remains valuable in an increasingly automated industry, how body language and hesitation reveal insights that data alone can miss, and why researchers should maintain a healthy skepticism toward AI. She also shares how she uses AI to manage the administrative side of her consultancy while keeping human judgment at the center of her research.

AI is changing market research across the board, but getting work done faster and cheaper doesn't always mean getting better insights. In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Alisa Hamilton, founder of Harvest Insights, discusses where AI adds value, why quality remains a challenge, and how researchers can use new tools without losing the human judgment that good research depends on. She also explores how AI is making advanced methodologies more accessible, why the next generation of researchers needs a broader set of skills, and why curiosity will continue to play a central role in understanding human behaviour.

Great research starts with the business question and lets the right methodology follow. In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Aksel Bedikyan, Founder and CEO of OhGee Insights, discusses why researchers should stay methodology-agnostic, how mixed methods can reveal insights hidden in conflicting data, and why existing data should be explored before new research is commissioned. He also shares how generative AI is changing the research process by taking on time-consuming analytical work and why curiosity, human judgment, and client relationships become even more important as automation improves.

What does it take to build a research function that leadership actually uses? In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Stephanie Vance and Molly Strawn-Carreño sit down with David Yin, a fractional research and marketing leader who has built insights functions at companies including Fitbit, Ancestry, Eventbrite, and Poshmark. David shares how researchers can build credibility from scratch, understand stakeholder problems, earn leadership buy-in, translate research data into business action, and turn consumer insights into competitive advantage.