Abstract:
For collecting market research data and promoting business activities in a selected geographic area, user information containing users&#39; profile and preference information is received from a mobile terminal and a user identifier is assigned to the user of the mobile terminal, The assigned user identifier is mapped to the received user information in a first database, and the assigned user identifier is transmitted to the mobile terminal. A user identifier, when received from a mobile terminal, is checked for verification. If the received user identifier is verified, the user of this mobile terminal is allowed to transmit area-specific information that can obtained only when the user is in the selected geographic area. Corresponding to the verified user identifier, user information in the first database is detected and mapped to the received area-specific information in a second database. Data stored in the second database can be used for market research.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a market research system for enabling market researchers to collect information about users&#39; preferences from mobile terminals through a communications network.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    Since recent advances in the communications technology allow low-cost transmission of information to users, there is an increasing number of advertising agencies acting as information providers for transmitting sales information via the Internet to users and collecting data from the users for market researchers to study users&#39; preferences. Further, recent proliferation of mobile terminals which communicate with WWW servers using TCP/IP, HTTP or WAP allows users to establish an instant access to various information resources.  
           [0005]    However, most of the commercial mails currently transmitted over the Internet are directed to unspecified destinations. This is undesirable for network utilization as well as for recipients who reluctantly receive them as undesired mails. There exists a need to reduce wasteful mail transmissions by identifying target destinations.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for collecting market research data from consumers that indicate their preferences and interests in a particular geographic area or market.  
           [0007]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a market research data collecting method and system that is conducive to promote business activities of a particular geographic area,  
           [0008]    According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data collecting method comprising the steps of (a) receiving user information from a mobile terminal of a user and assigning a user identifier to the user, (b) mapping the assigned user identifier to the received user information in a first database, (c) transmitting the assigned user identifier to the mobile terminal (d) receiving a user identifier from a mobile terminal of a user and checking the user identifier for verification, (e) allowing the user to transmit area-specific information if the user identifier is verified and receiving the transmitted area-specific information, wherein the area-specific information is obtainable only if the user is in the area, (f) detecting user information in the first database corresponding to the verified user identifier, and (g) mapping the received area-specific information to the detected user information in a second database.  
           [0009]    According to a second aspect the present invention provides a data collecting method comprising the steps of (a) receiving, at a first server, user information from a mobile terminal of a user and assigning a user identifier to the user, the user information comprising profile information which identifies the mobile terminal and preference information which cannot identify the mobile terminal, (b) creating, at the first server, a first database in which the assigned user identifier is mapped to the received user information, (c) transmitting the assigned user identifier to the mobile terminal from the first server, (d) receiving, at the first server, a user identifier from a mobile terminal of a user and checking the user identifier for verification, (e) if the user identifier is verified, detecting preference information in the first database corresponding to the verified user identifier, (f) receiving, at a second server, the detected preference information from the first server, (g) allowing the user to transmit area-specific information if the user identifier is verified and receiving, at the first server, the transmitted area-specific information, wherein the area-specific information is obtainable only if the user is in the area, (h) receiving, at the second server, the area-specific information from the first server, and (i) creating, at the second server, a second database in which the received area-specific information is mapped to the received preference information.  
           [0010]    According to a third aspect the present invention provides a data collecting method comprising the steps of (a) receiving, at a first server, user information from a mobile terminal of a user and assigning a user identifier to the user, the user information comprising profile information which can identify the mobile terminal and preference information which cannot identify the mobile terminal, (b) creating, at the first server, a first database in which the assigned user identifier is mapped to the received user information, (c) transmitting the assigned user identifier to the user from the first server, (d) receiving, at a second server, a user identifier from a mobile terminal of a user, (e) receiving, at the first server, the user identifier from the second server and checking the received user identifier for verification, (f) if the user identifier is verified, detecting preference information in the first database corresponding to the verified user identifier, (g) receiving, at the second server, the detected preference information from the first server, (h) allowing the user to transmit area-specific information and receiving, at the second server, the transmitted area-specific information, wherein the area-specific information is obtainable only if the user is in the area, and (i) creating, at the second server, a second database in which the received area-specific information is mapped to the received preference information.  
           [0011]    Privilege information may be transmitted to the mobile terminal when the second database is created. Data stored in the second database is useful for studying customer&#39;s preferences in the selected geographic area, 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    The present invention will be described in detail further with reference to the following drawings, in which:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a market data collection system according to a first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 shows details of databases created in the server of FIG. 1;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the system of FIG. 1;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a market data collection system according to a second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 shows details of a database created in a first server of FIG. 4;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 shows details of a database created in a second server of FIG. 4;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram of a first form of the operation of the system of FIG. 4; and  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram of a second form of the operation of the system of FIG. 4. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0021]    In FIG. 1, a data collection system for market research according to a first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in simplified form in which only one mobile terminal  1  is shown for simplicity. Mobile terminal  1  may be a cellular phone or a personal digital assistant for establishing a wireless link through a mobile network to the Internet  2  to which a server  3  of an information provider (source) is connected. Server  3  maintains sales database holding sales data of a number of fashionable shopping areas.  
         [0022]    As will be described in detail later, the server  3  creates in its storage device a first database  11 , as shown in FIG. 2, for mapping a plurality of user identifiers with their expiration dates to a corresponding number of user information and a second database  12  for mapping a plurality of shop codes to a corresponding number of user information, the dates and time-of-day at which the shop codes are received from mobile terminals.  
         [0023]    Mobile terminal  1  has a keypad for allowing the user to enter alphanumeric data and a display panel for providing a display of the entered data and screen data received from the server including a text box. Mobile terminal  1  is equipped with a WWW (world wide web) browser for displaying an electronic registration form received from the server for allowing the user to enter response data requested from the server. Server  3  may be any of conventional personal computer systems operating on a UNIX or LINUX OS program on which a WWW server program and HTTPD (hypertext transfer protocol daemon) and CGI (common gateway interface) programs are run,  
         [0024]    According to the present invention, a market research user program is installed on the terminal device  1  and a market research server program is installed on the server  3 . Both of these market research programs operate according to a sequence diagram shown in FIG. 3.  
         [0025]    Referring to FIG. 3, the operation of the market research system proceeds as follows:  
         [0026]    When the user of the mobile terminal  1  initially establishes a connection to the server  3 , he sends a request for a text box indicating a plurality of shopping areas (or geographic markets) to be selected by the user. Tis is done by sending a URI (uniform resource indicator) identifying a text box (or HTML form) for entering user information or a URI identifying a program for displaying such a text box. In response, the server  3  transmits the requested text box containing a list of shopping areas to be selected by the user. The transmitted text box is displayed on the mobile terminal and the user selects one of the listed shopping areas. The filled-in text box is transmitted to the server  3 .  
         [0027]    Following the transmission of the text box specifying a shopping area (geographic market), the mobile terminal  1  sends a request to the server  3  for a text box for the user to enter user information (step  101 ). The user information consists of profile information and preference information, The profile information includes a device number identifying the mobile terminal, a telephone number assigned to the mobile terminal, the type of system with which the user is charged from the serving common carrier, the user&#39;s name and postal address, and Fe type of bearer service, The preference information includes the user&#39;s sex, age, residential area, hobbies, family, academic career, business career and subscribed magazines. Therefore, the profile information can be used to identify the mobile terminal while the preference information cannot.  
         [0028]    In response, the server  3  transmits the requested text box containing blank fields to the mobile terminal  1  (step  102 ).  
         [0029]    The transmitted text box is received and displayed on the mobile terminal  1  and the user enters user information into fields of the displayed text box (step  103 ). The filled-in user information text box is then submitted to the server  3  (step  104 ).  
         [0030]    In response to receipt of the user information, the server  3  produces a user identifier for uniquely identifying the user and maps the user identifier and its expiration date to the received user information in the first database  11  (step  105 ). Server  3  sends the user identifier to the mobile terminal  1  along with an announcement encouraging the user to travel to the selected shopping area where he can obtain desired sales items and bargains (step  106 ).  
         [0031]    The transmitted user identifier and announcement are displayed on the mobile terminal  1  and stored in memory (step  107 ). Being encouraged by the displayed announcement, the user may proceed to travel to the selected shopping area.  
         [0032]    If the user is in the selected shopping area, posters or placards advertising sales items and area-specific information such as shop codes will attract the attention of the user. The posters also notify expiration dates of the shop codes. After reading the advertisements, the user may enter shop codes and their expiration dates to the mobile terminal  1 . For purposes of managing the shop codes and their expiration dates, the information source server  3  maintains a shop-code database.  
         [0033]    Alternatively, short-range wireless communication systems such as Bluetooth may be used to broadcast sales items and shop codes from individual shops of the particular shopping area. In this system, the mobile terminal  1  is also provided with a Bluetooth system, which is activated when the user is in the selected shopping area to receive and store the broadcast shop codes in the mobile terminal.  
         [0034]    When the user enters the selected shopping area, he sends a request to the server to obtain a text box for entering the previously received user identifier (step  108 ). In response, the server  3  returns the requested text box (step  109 ).  
         [0035]    The transmitted text box is displayed on the mobile terminal and the user enters his own user identifier and its expiration date in the displayed text box (step  110 ), which is then submitted to the server  3  (step  111 ).  
         [0036]    Upon receipt of the user identifier, the server  3  checks it for validity by comparing it with those stored in the ID database and examining its expiration date (step  112 ). If the user identifier is valid, the server  3  sends a text box for the user to enter a shop code (step  113 ). Otherwise, the process is terminated and the user is informed of this fact.  
         [0037]    The transmitted text box is displayed on the mobile terminal and the user enters a shop code in the displayed text box (step  114 ), which is then submitted to the server (step  115 ).  
         [0038]    Server  3  checks the received shop code for validity by consulting with the shop-code database for a match. If they match, the expiration date of the shop code is expand for verification (step  116 ). If the shop code is valid, the server determines that the user is in a specified shopping area and makes a search through the database for user information corresponding to the received user identifier and maps the received shop code to the user information, date and time-of-day in the second database  12  (step  117 ),  
         [0039]    Server  3  transmits privilege information indicating bargain sales items (step  118 ). The user may display the transmitted privilege information and allow it to be seen by the sales attendant of the shop of interest. The displayed privilege information of a shop may be saved in memory and retrieved at a later time and shown to the sales attendant of the shop,  
         [0040]    The market researcher analyses the stored shop codes and user information to determine current sales trends which indicate relationships between types of people and their interests on different sales items. The stored data itself or the analyzed results can be sold to advertising agencies.  
         [0041]    In the previous embodiment, consumers&#39; profile information are stored in the server of the market researcher. For security it is desirable to prevent the market researcher from gaining access to the profile information.  
         [0042]    To this end, two servers  4  and  5  are provided in a second embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 4. Server  4  is an information management server which is controlled by an information management system to hold both profile and preference information. Specifically, the server  4  creates a first database  21 , as shown in FIG. 5, in which it maps a plurality of user identifiers with their expiration dates to a plurality of user information in a manner similar to the first embodiment. On the other hand, the server  5  is an information source server maintained by a local information provider and is used to exclusively hold user preference information for a particular shopping area. The information source server  5  holds a second database  22  for mapping a plurality of shop codes to a corresponding number of user preference information, dates and time-of-day at which the shop codes are received from mobile terminals, as shown in FIG. 6. In a practical aspect, a plurality of such information source servers  5  may be connected to the information management server  4 . Communications between the mobile terminal  1  and the information collection system is by way of the information management server  4 .  
         [0043]    A first form of the operation of the system of FIG. 4 is described with reference to a sequence diagram shown in FIG. 7.  
         [0044]    After the user selects a desired shopping area in a manner as described above, the operation of FIG. 7 starts with the mobile terminal  1  transmitting a request to the information management server  4  for requesting a text box for the user to enter both profile and preference information (step  201 ). In response, the server  4  transmits the requested text box containing blank fields to the mobile terminal  1  (step  202 ).  
         [0045]    The transmitted text box is displayed on the mobile terminal  1  and the user enters user information into the displayed text box (step  203 ) and transmits the filled-in user information text box to the server  4  (step  204 ).  
         [0046]    In response to receipt of the user information, the server  4  generates a user identifier for uniquely identifying the user and maps the user identifier with its expiration date to the received user information in the first database  21  (step  205 ). Server  4  sends the user identifier to the mobile terminal  1  along with an announcement for encouraging the user to make a trip to a selected shopping area where he can obtain desired sales items and bargains (step  206 ).  
         [0047]    The transmitted user identifier and announcement are displayed on the mobile terminal  1  (step  207 ). Being encouraged by the displayed announcement, the user may proceed to make a trip to the selected shopping area.  
         [0048]    Similar to the previous embodiment, if the user is in the selected shopping area, the user&#39;s attention may be attracted to posters advertising sales items with shop codes as in the previous embodiment and the user may store shop codes of interesting shops in the storage device of mobile terminal  1 . The posters also notify expiration dates of the shop codes. The shop codes and their expiration dates are managed in a shop-code database maintained by the information source server  5 .  
         [0049]    The user now sends a request to the server to obtain a text box for entering the previously received user identifier (step  208 ). In response, the server  3  returns the requested text box (step  209 ).  
         [0050]    The transmitted text box is displayed on the mobile terminal and the user enters his own user identifier and its expiration date in the displayed text box (step  210 ), which is then submitted to the server  4  (step  211 ).  
         [0051]    Upon receipt of the user identifier, the server  4  checks it for validity by comparing it with those stored in the ID database and examining its expiration date (step  212 ). If the user identifier is not valid, the server  4  terminates the process and informs the user of this fact. If the user identifier is valid, the server  4  makes a search through the database to detect preference information that corresponds to the received user identifier (step  213 ) and sends the detected preference information to the information source server  5  (step  214 ).  
         [0052]    Upon receipt of the transmitted preference information, the server  5  stores it in a storage device and transmits a text box to the information management server  4  in order that the user may enter a shop code (step  215 ). Information management server  4  receives the text box from the server  5  and retransmits it to the mobile terminal  1  (step  216 ).  
         [0053]    The transmitted text box is received by the mobile terminal and displayed and the user enters a desired shop code in the displayed text box (step  217 ), which is then submitted to the server  4  (step  218 ). Server  4  retransmits the shop-code containing text box to the information source server  5  (step  219 ). Server  5  checks the received shop code for validity by comparing it with registered shop codes for a match. If they match, the expiration date of the shop code is examined for verification (step  220 ). If the shop code is valid, the server  5  determines that the user is in a specified shopping area and maps the verified shop code to the preference information of the user, date and time-of-day at which the shop code is received in the second database  22  (step  221 ).  
         [0054]    Information source server  5  transmits privilege information to the information management server  4  (step  222 ). This information is received by and retransmitted from the server  4  to the mobile terminal  1  for indicating bargain sales items and the like (step  223 ). The data stored in the server  5  is then analyzed by a market researcher to determine sales trends. In this way, illegal access to the sensitive user profile information from local information providers can be prevented.  
         [0055]    The speed of communications between the mobile terminal  1  and the information source server  5  can be increased by establishing direct paths between them, rather than through the information management server  4 .  
         [0056]    For this purpose, a modification of the sequence diagram of FIG. 7 is shown in FIG. 8.  
         [0057]    The transaction steps of FIG. 8 during the initial period of the system operation are identical to those of FIG. 4 until the user travels and enters the selected shopping area after he is encouraged by the displayed announcement (step  207 ).  
         [0058]    The user sends a request to the information source server  5  to obtain a text box for entering the previously received user identifier (step  301 ). In response, the server  5  returns the requested text box (step  302 ).  
         [0059]    The transmitted text box is displayed on the mobile terminal and the user enters his own user identifier and its expiration date in the displayed text box (step  303 ), which is then submitted to the server  5  (step  304 ).  
         [0060]    The user identifier is retransmitted from the information source server  5  to the information management server  4  (step  305 ), where the user identifier is compared with those stored in the ID database and its expiration date is examined to deter its validity (step  306 ). If the user identifier is valid, the server  4  makes a search through the database to detect preference information that corresponds to the received user identifier (step  307 ). If the user identifier is not valid, the server  4  generates an error code (step  308 ). To the server  5 , the server  4  sends preference information if the decision at step  306  is affirmative or an error code otherwise.  
         [0061]    Server  5  determines whether preference information or an error code is received from the server  4 . If an error code is received, the server  5  terminates the transaction and informs this fact to the user. If preference information is received, the server  5  sends to the mobile terminal  1  a text box for the user to enter a shop code (step  311 ).  
         [0062]    The transmitted text box is displayed on the mobile terminal and the user enters a desired shop code in the displayed text box (step  312 ), which is then submitted to the server  5  (step  313 ). Server  5  checks the received shop code for validity in the same manner as described above (step  314 ). If the shop code is valid, the server  5  determines that the user is in a specified shopping area and maps the verified shop code to the preference information of the user, date and time-of-day in its storage device (step  315 ) and transmits privilege information to the information management server  4  (step  316 ).