Glossary
Key market research and ReadingMinds terms explained
AI-Moderated Interviews
Semi-structured interviews run by an emotionally intelligent AI agent that can ask open or closed questions and follow up dynamically, saving time and enabling scale.
Audience Profiling
Segmenting and analyzing target audiences based on demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and preferences to tailor messaging and research.
Automated Transcription
AI-powered conversion of spoken words into written text during or after interviews, speeding up analysis and highlighting key quotes without manual effort.
Bias Mitigation
Processes for spotting and reducing unfair bias in data or models. Crucial for keeping AI scores and recommendations inclusive and defensible.
Brand Awareness
How familiar consumers are with a product or company name. High brand awareness means customers can recognize the name and recall positive impressions when making purchasing decisions.
Brand Funnel
A framework that tracks customer progression through stages of awareness, consideration, purchase, and loyalty.
Concept Testing
Evaluating campaign ideas or creative concepts through consumer feedback to validate effectiveness before launch.
Conjoint Analysis
A quantitative technique to understand how consumers value different features of a product or service by ranking options with varying attributes.
Customer Experience (CX)
The entire journey of a customer with a brand across all touchpoints: pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase interactions.
Digital Twin
A generative AI-based model of a specific individual used to predict preferences and behaviors. Use cases include filling in missing data, shortening surveys, and journey orchestration.
Early Discovery
The initial phase of identifying emerging patterns, behaviors, or preferences among consumers through research, data analysis, or observation before they become mainstream.
Emma
ReadingMinds’ emotionally intelligent AI interviewer. She adapts questions in real time based on tone, sentiment, and engagement signals.
Emotionally Intelligent AI
Algorithms that read tone, vocal cues, or phrasing to gauge feelings, distinguishing genuine enthusiasm from polite indifference.
First-Generation AI Interview Products
Early platforms that transcribe voice or video to text and then feed that text into an LLM. This process loses emotional depth because it flattens speech into words.
Focus Group
A moderated discussion with a small group (6 to 12 people) who share key demographics. The moderator explores opinions, emotions, and reactions to concepts or products.
In-Depth Interview (IDI)
A one-on-one interview where a skilled interviewer explores a participant’s motivations, beliefs, and feelings. Unlike focus groups, IDIs avoid group dynamics.
Insight
A distilled, actionable finding from one or more responses. It reveals what matters most to customers: emotionally, behaviorally, or thematically.
Intercept
A lightweight recruitment entry point that invites participants into an AI interview. It can be embedded in an app, website, email, or QR code.
Interview
An AI-moderated conversation between the ReadingMinds platform and one participant. Typically lasts around 10 minutes and includes real-time analysis.
Knowledge Graph
A connected web of entities (products, needs, personas) and their relationships that lets AI surface insights across siloed research files.
Large Language Model (LLM)
A massive neural-network model trained on text that can read, write, and converse like a human. LLMs power AI moderators and enable follow-up questions on the fly.
Likert Scale
A common survey scale where respondents rate agreement on a five- or seven-point scale (e.g., from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’).
Market Research Panel
A pre-recruited group of people who agree to participate in ongoing research such as surveys or interviews, providing quick access to targeted audiences.
MaxDiff
Maximum Difference Scaling (Best-Worst Scaling): a survey method to measure and rank relative preferences among a list of items or attributes.
Mixed Methods Research
An approach combining quantitative and qualitative research for a more complete understanding. For example, running a survey to measure satisfaction and then conducting interviews to explore the reasons.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
AI capability to interpret and generate human language, enabling seamless conversation in AI-moderated interviews and accurate sentiment detection.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
A single-question metric asking how likely a customer is to recommend a company. Promoters (9 to 10) minus Detractors (0 to 6) equals the NPS.
Participant
A person who takes part in a research project. In ReadingMinds, a participant is an end user or customer who completes an AI-moderated interview.
PEP Score (Purchase Enthusiasm Potential)
A proprietary metric derived from tone and sentiment signals that gauges emotional energy and buying readiness. High PEP = high intent; low PEP = low intent or negative sentiment.
Project
A high-level research objective in ReadingMinds. It organizes one or more Studies around a strategic business initiative or theme.
Prompt Engineering
The art and science of writing clear, detailed instructions so an AI tool gives exactly the insight you need.
Prosody
The rhythm, intonation, and melody of speech that convey emotion and meaning beyond words. ReadingMinds uses prosody for real-time sentiment analysis.
Qualitative Research
Research that seeks to understand how people experience the world, using methods like interviews and focus groups to capture depth and nuance.
Quantitative Research
The collection and analysis of numerical data to identify patterns, test hypotheses, or make predictions. Structured surveys and statistical models are examples.
Real-Time Analytics
Instant processing of interview data as it unfolds, allowing the AI to adapt questions or flag emerging themes for immediate stakeholder review.
Response
The data record for a single completed interview in ReadingMinds. It includes raw input, sentiment analysis, extracted themes, and key moments.
Second-Generation AI Interview Products
Advanced platforms using speech-to-speech (S2S) recognition to capture tone, prosody, and emotion in real time. The AI adapts questions and provides granular sentiment analysis without losing emotional depth.
Sentiment Analysis
Determining the emotional tone of text or speech. ReadingMinds provides granular analysis beyond simple positive/neutral/negative categories.
Speaker Diarization
Segmenting audio to identify ‘who spoke when’ by distinguishing different speakers and labeling each segment, improving transcription clarity.
Stimulus Material
Visual, verbal, or audio materials shown to participants during interviews to spark discussion. Examples: images, videos, prototypes, or web links.
Study
A self-contained research activity in ReadingMinds that includes an interview design, participant engagement, distribution settings, and real-time analysis.
Study Guide
The strategic blueprint that drives interviews: research goal, objectives, core questions, and follow-up probes. Emma can generate one from a single Research Goal, or you can write it manually.
Synthetic Users
Fake users generated by AI from group-level descriptors, used to pre-flight stimuli or build digital twins of hard-to-reach segments before spending on fieldwork.
Team
A named group of Users within a Workspace. Teams help manage collaboration and sharing across departments, regions, or topics.
Thematic Analysis
Systematic review of qualitative data to identify recurring themes or patterns. ReadingMinds uses AI to accelerate this across large volumes of interviews.
Usability Testing
Participants perform tasks with a product while researchers observe. Feedback on ease of use and problems informs design improvements.
Voice of Customer (VoC)
Direct feedback from customers on their experiences and expectations, analyzed to drive product enhancements and satisfaction.
Workspace
The top-level container for an organization in ReadingMinds. It holds all Projects, Studies, Interviews, Users, and Insights, typically mapped to a company or brand.
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