Machine Learning for Consumers and Markets

Wen Wang, Han Zhao, Dokyun Lee, George H. Chen

Abstract: Consumers leave digital footprints through large volumes of heterogeneous data which is a wealth of commercial value for firms, waiting to be mined. While there are initial success stories, this area is still under-explored. Further research and communication between the ML community and business community are needed to better align the objectives and create more successful applications. While machine learning is equipped to handle a variety of raw data for predictive tasks, without the theoretical insights from economics and consumer behavior to guide ML models, extracting generalizable insights with clear managerial implications and formulating impactful policies remain elusive. This workshop aims to promote further communication between these disciplines to foster synergistic development of impactful research that could benefit one another.