February 15, 2016

Prosper Insight and Analytics visit the Chinese Flagship

Prosper Insight and Analytics, a Columbus market research firm that has been developing consumer information and analyses for over twenty five years, renewed its relationship with the Midwest / US Chinese Flagship program February 15th. Mr. Philip Rist and Ms. Stacie Nelson from Prosper Business Development visited the 2015-2017 Flagship cohort, representing the Prosper Foundation. Mr. Rist and Ms. Nelson demonstrated the ProsperChina database and explained that a grant from the Prosper Foundation makes this resource and other consumer databases available to students who are researching China consumer groups and markets. Flagship students are considering ways to understand Chinese consumers’ responses, including trends in international branding, 3D printing, contemporary art, health and physical conditioning, regional influences, and language education.

The Advanced Chinese Language and Culture (AKA Flagship) Program is an MA degree program that requires a thesis or MA project written and defended in Chinese. Having the database resources provided by Prosper Foundation gives participants in our program an advantage in producing original research in a number of topics on contemporary China.

The relationship with Prosper Insight and Analytics provides an opportunity for our students to familiarize themselves with “big data” resources, to offer critiques of cultural assumptions of the surveys and analyses, and even have their work published in industry publications.

According to Phil Rist, Trustee, Prosper Foundation:
“We enjoy supporting the efforts of the China Flagship program because of its interdisciplinary nature.  Since the students have a wide range of career interests, their interaction with the faculty and with the consumer insights database yields new and unique learning opportunities.”

The commercial value of the resources provided to our program by the Prosper Foundation is $60,000.