Molly Stern

Background

About Molly Stern

In May 2022, I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree of Science in Business Administration. It wasn’t until I took consumer behavior and marketing research, that I could feel a sense of passion within me, stronger than anything else I was learning about. I love learning about people, all of their likes and dislikes, the reasoning behind their decision making, and creating a narrative that pleases a particular market. Upon this realization, I worked on a study that analyzed conversations. Our hypothesis was that people tend to have more meaningful conversations if the conversation starts by talking about something personal rather than something generic. For our study, we randomly selected students to have recorded conversations and instructed some to begin by talking about the weather (generic) and by talking about an object that had significant meaning to the other person (personal). During my role in this position, I gained experience analyzing qualitative data gathered from a post-conversation survey, as well as valuable administrative skills to ensure participants were aware of their roles, and accurately compensated for their time. I also learned about the types of things people considered meaningful, and got to learn why those things were meaningful.Eventually, our hypothesis proved to be correct. Conversations that began by talking about an inherited necklace, an award from a sports team or piece of art crafted by a close friend resulted in more meaningful and memorable conversations. This information is very valuable, because we can use it to market certain products as personally meaningful, rather than trendy, necessity, or monetarily valuable. A product that is personable is much more valuable than any of its competitors. After graduation, I dedicated a year to independently research diverse populations. During this research, I took part in vegetable cultivation and sales coordination for a farm on Maui, I was a counseling and safety specialist for a camp in New Jersey, and I took a three week trip to visit 15 different states and observe their cultures. These experiences provided me with a wealth of knowledge, including: how to effectively cater my communication approaches, quickly evaluate consumer needs, and promptly create solutions necessary to meet each type of consumer's needs through relatable and innovative storytelling. I have reached the end of my allotted year, and am now seeking to contribute to a company where I can explore new tools to gather data, and use that information to make a great impact!