Credit: Eastern Sociological Society
The Melior Group’s Susan Levine and Sindey Dranoff recently gave a presentation at the Eastern Sociological Society’s 2017 Annual Meeting. They discussed their article, “Jewish Community Studies as Seen Through a Business Lens”, which was published in a Contemporary Jewry special issue on local Jewish community studies.
The presentation and article focused on The Melior Group’s innovative and unique approach to Jewish community studies, which utilizes a business mindset. The core question Melior helps clients answer is: “Why do/don’t people chose to purchase the “products and services” their Jewish community offers?” Melior’s approach applies a marketing framework and examines purchase decision-making, buyer behavior, and the customer experience as they relate to various aspects of Jewish community life. Susan and Sindey also discussed the types of questions included in our projects, the qualitative and quantitative research techniques used, and the strategic analysis and actionable recommendations provided.
Their presentation was included as a part of the Annual Meeting’s “The Transformation of Jewish (and Other) Community Studies” session. Other presenters included David Dutwin from SSRS, Ira Sheskin from the University of Miami, Steven M. Cohen from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, and David Marker from Westat. The session was moderated by Harriet Hartman of Rowan University.
The theme of the ESS’s Annual Meeting was “The End of the World as We Know It?” and invited presentations from sociologists and other practitioners whose work engages with changes in different social groups. The Annual Meeting took place at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown from February 23-26, 2017.