A team of four students from Aurora University has won GfK’s fifth annual Next Generation (“NextGen”) Competition, which gives undergraduates firsthand experience in designing and executing market research projects.

The team’s final report, “Mobilized for Success: Creating Effective Mobile Apps for Millennials,” focuses on what quick-serve restaurant (QSR) companies can do to make their mobile applications (“apps”) more appealing to Millennial consumers. As part of its study, the Aurora students
• interviewed digital marketing and app development professionals from the Chicagoland area,
• held a focus group in which they observed and interviewed Millennial app users, and  
• conducted a survey among over 200 college students about their app habits and preferences.

The student team — consisting of Nicholas Carroll, Nicole Funk, Brett Willman, and Christina Young, with Brian Vander Schee (Professor, Marketing) serving as faculty advisor – recently visited GfK’s offices in Chicago for an “immersion day.” GfK experts provided guidance and filled them in on key trends in market research and user experience (UX).

As part of the NextGen Competition, undergraduates from a variety of disciplines propose market research projects examining some of today’s key business and marketing issues – online advertising, mobile devices, and user experience, to name a few. A GfK committee then chooses a small number of finalists to complete their projects and submit a report.

Previous winning NextGen studies have focused on mobile user experience, crowdfunding, Hispanic consumer trends, and social media use.