At The Center for Cultural Studies & Analysis, we decode the hidden values and motivations of consumers. Our research reveals what people truly desire, allowing businesses to make informed, strategic decisions.
We are a research institute that decodes how people find value in products, services, concepts, and ideas. Our work is inspired by one simple truth: People cannot tell you what they want with any degree of accuracy, but those same people recognize what they want with 100% accuracy.
What people tell you they want is unverified testimony. What they habitually do is reliable evidence. Without examining the evidence of consistent patterns of behavior to compare to the testimony, you are working without the critical information to make informed strategy, planning, and tactical decisions.
We provide this critical piece of the puzzle. We can tell you why people wanted what they have, what they will want in the future, and how they will recognize it when they see it.
Dr. King is a nationally recognized expert on culture and consumer behavior. She received the first graduate degree awarded in Popular Culture from the Center for the Study of Popular Culture and the Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Hawaii. Research at the East-West Center Culture Learning Institute included international comparative literature and fieldwork in Tokyo and Kyoto. She is now Director of The Center for Cultural Studies & Analysis, a Philadelphia-based think tank that identifies how people find and recognize value.
She has served on the boards of the American Culture Association, The Association for the Preservation of Artifacts and Landscapes, the Geographical Society of Philadelphia, as Colleague in the Creative Problem-Solving Institute, and Life Chair of Fellows in American Studies. Her research areas range from theme parks (recognized national expert), museums, the popular arts, the nature of creativity, film, television, cross-cultural issues, and marketing, to consumer psychology, decision-making, and culture theory.
Dr. King’s studies of culture appear in over a hundred publications including Industry Week, The Futurist, Museum, American Marketing Association Newsletter, Material Culture, Antioch Review, The Conference Board, Journal of American Culture, Journal of Popular Culture, International Popular Culture, Journal of Creative Behavior, ACA Focus, Innovative Leader, Mature Marketing Media, Executive Excellence, and Marketing Insights. She wrote the entries for Disneyland and Walt Disney World for the Dictionary of Popular Culture, and defined the theme park for The Guide to U.S. Popular Culture. Chapter contributions to numerous books include The Cultures of Celebration, Themes in Advertising, Research in Culture Learning: Language and Conceptual Studies; The American Mosaic, and Advertising and Popular Culture.
Dr. King is a regular source for media and news features, including network television, LA Times, New York Times, NPR, CNBC, CNN, Cronkite-Ward Productions, Public Radio International, MSNBC, Radio Times, TLC, ABC, CBS, NBC, Washington Post, NJ Herald, NYCity News Service, CBS Interactive, The Frumi Group, HARO (Help a Reporter Out), Toronto Mail, Philadelphia Magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer, FOCUS (ACA Newsletter – Editor), Metropolis, Hartford Courant, Georgetown Hoya, Orlando Sentinel, QuinStreet, Reader’s Digest, Parade Magazine, Painless Productions, Huffington Post, USA Today, Metro Networks, The Learning Channel, and E-TV.
Jamie O'Boyle is Senior Analyst at the Center for Cultural Studies & Analysis in Philadelphia. He has done cross-cultural field studies and written on global culture from areas as wide-ranging as the Middle and Far East, East Africa, the former Soviet Union, England, and Northern Ireland. He is the “model mechanic” who developed the complex systems models used to identify and track patterns of behavior and decision making within national and institutional cultures. These include age-stage development, community-building, perception intake and processing, gender, cultural values, hierarchy of needs, and the hidden systems identification (in development as a book).
His expertise on these unconscious drivers of choice includes work on human perception, culture, shared values, the brain, biology, and behavior. This research has been applied by clients as diverse as Walt Disney Imagineering, P&G, Thomas Jefferson University, DuPont, General Mills, P&G, FutuRum Sweden, 3M, The International Dairy Foods Association, Tierney & Partners Advertising, the Sales Focus Project, The Autry Museum of Western Heritage, The National Constitution Center, Pfizer, Six Flags, Sea World, and NASA. His expertise in the dynamics of individual and group behavior is often cited in the media.
He served as President of the American Creativity Association, as Area Chair of the Popular Culture Association, and an officer of Fellows in American Studies. He has lectured widely on the unconscious assumptions and systems that drive decision making, at institutions such as The University of Greenwich (UK), The University of the Americas (Mexico), and Harvard University.
Let us help you ask new questions.
Our clients are institutions, corporations, businesses, consultants, and government or other agencies who manufacture, market, and/or design products, experiences, concepts, and ideas for the consumer market. Our worldwide team of experts applies cultural analysis and original business intelligence tools to solve client marketing and development challenges.
Our Center has provided actionable solutions to market leaders as diverse as Walt Disney Imagineering, the International Dairy Foods Association, DuPont, Procter and Gamble, Sea World, General Mills, Helzberg Diamonds, Thomas Jefferson University, Best Buy, Pfizer, 3M, The National Alliance for Musical Theater, Novartis, The Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Morgan Stanley, Motista, ING Direct, the National Constitution Center, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as well as themed environments, museums, and educational venues worldwide.
