Ambient Media Selection via Transaction Data Demographics

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Solution Overview

Problem

Merchants face challenges in accurately identifying consumer demographics and preferences for ambient media content, leading to suboptimal shopping experiences and potential revenue loss, as existing methods rely on assumptions rather than real-time data analysis.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that utilize transaction history data to identify demographic characteristics of consumers, enabling the selection of ambient media such as music and visual content that align with the preferences of actual customers, which can be dynamically updated in real-time.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If merchants use assumptions about expected clientele to select ambient media, then the selection process is simple and quick, but the accuracy of matching consumer preferences is poor

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaccuracy of demographic identificationVSAvoidcomplexity of data analysis system

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a payment network as an intermediary that collects transaction data from merchants and consumer information from card issuers, then processes this data to generate demographic insights. This intermediary approach allows accurate demographic identification without requiring merchants to build complex data collection and analysis systems themselves, thus resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and device complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary data collection and demographic analysis by processing transaction history data in advance. The payment network and card issuers continuously accumulate and analyze consumer spending patterns, pre-computing demographic profiles that can be immediately applied to ambient media selection. This eliminates the need for merchants to perform real-time complex analysis, maintaining simplicity while achieving high accuracy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If merchants collect and analyze real-time transaction data to identify consumer demographics, then the accuracy of content selection improves, but the system complexity and data processing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveability to dynamically adjust to changing clienteleVSAvoidcomplexity of real-time data processing system

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adapts to changing consumer demographics by continuously processing new transaction data. As consumer patterns change over time (including within a single day), the system updates demographic profiles and adjusts ambient media selections accordingly. This dynamic approach enables merchants to adapt to evolving clientele without manual intervention, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and system complexity through automated real-time processing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback loops where transaction data is continuously collected, analyzed, and used to update demographic profiles, which then inform ambient media selections. This closed-loop feedback mechanism allows the system to automatically adapt to changing consumer preferences and demographics in real-time, achieving high versatility without requiring complex manual adjustment processes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Reliability

If merchants implement comprehensive transaction data analysis, then consumer preference matching improves, but implementation costs and system modification requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvereliability of consumer demographic identificationVSAvoidease of implementing data collection infrastructure

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The system leverages existing infrastructure where payment networks and card issuers automatically collect and process transaction data as part of their core services. Merchants benefit from reliable consumer demographic identification without needing to implement their own data collection infrastructure. The payment ecosystem essentially serves itself by generating valuable demographic insights as a byproduct of normal transaction processing, eliminating the need for additional merchant investment in data collection systems.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentUS10430828B2Method and system for ambient media selection based on transaction history and demographics

Publication Date: 2019.10.01 MASTERCARD INT INC

AI summary

A method for identifying ambient media (audio and visual content) selections based on transaction history includes: storing transaction data entries, each including data related to a payment transaction including a merchant identifier associated with a merchant involved in the transaction, a primary account number associated with a transaction account used in the transaction, and transaction data; receiving a request, the request including a specific merchant identifier; identifying a subset of transaction data entries that include a merchant identifier corresponding to the specific merchant identifier; identifying sets of demographic characteristics based on the primary account number and/or the transaction data included in transaction data entries in the subset; identifying an ambient media selection corresponding to the sets of the demographic characteristics; and transmitting the identified ambient media selection corresponding to each of the sets of demographic characteristics.