You know the summer movie season has arrived when half the commercials on television feature costumed adventurers, speeding muscle cars, computer-enhanced animal characters that are voiced by celebrities, or a combination of all three.

Take a look at how each group uses technology and it is evident that Baby Boomers and Millennials operate differently. From using iPads for notetaking during meetings rather than legal pads (Millennials), to preferring BlackBerry smartphones over iPhones (Boomers), it is clear that a generation gap exists. When you get into personal interactions....well.  I don't have enough fingers (or toes for that matter) to count how many times my parents have prefaced a personal anecdote with "Back in my day...."

Where the  workplace and consumer markets are concerned, generational translations define how we interact.  I've held numerous training workshops for my parents to show them how to competently operate their smartphones. Conversely, they taught me the intrinsic value of face-to-face communication over social communication via mobile apps.  For Millennials (those born in the period 1981-2000), this symbiosis is essential to the evolution of the global society and workforce.

In recent years, growing numbers of Americans have expressed a desire to practice healthy eating habits,  according to news and market research reports. Yet somewhat paradoxically, more households are also turning over at least some of the food purchase decisions to a population demographic not known historically for exercising great judgement: Children and teenagers.

Like most consumers of American-made entertainment, we do enjoy a rousing cinematic story of love, enchantment and discovery, especially if it features a plucky heroine who triumphs over cold-hearted villains.

The Walt Disney Company, of course, has perfected that story-telling formula over its long, illustrious history.  In recent years, along with the brain power within its stable of top-notch writers and editors, it seems that the company has also employed a thoroughly modern strategy for test-driving new characters and concepts before they hit screens or toy store shelves: kid-centric focus groups.

Will Market Research spending finally rise in the Middle East? Many marketers are betting that it will as the post-Arab Spring consumer grabs the attention of businesses around the world.

This week’s Arabian Gazette publishes an article quoting the CEO of TNS MENA; he sees the region experiencing high demand as investors try to unlock this new market.  Estimated at a mere $600 million, the Middle East and Africa is one of the smallest regions in relation to the $33.5 billion global market research sector.

The value of market research has reached the rural communities of central Africa. Microfinance operations aimed at providing banking services to low-income individuals and groups are trying to use market research to better target their clients. Microfinance gives these low-income groups an opportunity to become self-sufficient by giving them and their businesses the means to borrow and save money.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is working with financial institutions specializing in microfinance to train their teams in market research so that they can develop the right products for this growing market. The goal of the program, according to the USAID Rural finance program chief, is to create a more proactive approach in responding to market needs.

At first, we thought the hardest part was convincing our Mom that she shouldn't drive any more.

But two years after getting Mom to relinquish the car keys, my two older siblings and I are learning that taking care of an aging parent has many, many 'hard parts.'  Moreover, we've learned that the American healthcare system isn't terribly helpful to adult children of modest means who want to provide a safe, clean, engaging living arrangement for aging parents of limited means.