Today we’ll contemplate that most sublime of mysteries: the mind of the consumer. A carefully designed study from Intent Lab tested whether giving consumers what they wanted – that is, showing them products they are looking for – gives better results than trying to address their underlying goals. Turns out that messages related to goals are more effective.

Mobile attribution vendor AppsFlyer has introduced Incrementality, a solution that runs tests to determine the incremental impact of remarketing programs. Managing hold-out samples is tough, so that’s noteworthy in itself. But I was also intrigued by AppsFlyer’s statement that “attribution and incrementality are completely independent concepts” – the difference, apparently, being that attribution assigns full or fractional revenue “credit” to marketing touches while incrementality estimates the net revenue change resulting from a touch. Got that?

It’s all surveys today, Dear Reader.  Marigold reports that consumers are eager for personalized content, with 79% saying they’re likely to engage with a personalized email tailored to their interests.  Sadly, 33% feel their needs are unmet by current brand messages.  Discounts and coupons (95%) top the list of what they want in exchange for personal data, followed closely by loyalty rewards at 94%.  Content is last at 61%.