A Big Data View on Memorial Day Weekend Travel

If the Memorial Day weekend is a bellwether for summer spending trends in the U.S., the travel and retail industries are in for a sunnier season, according to an IBM social media sentiment analysis. The IBM Social Sentiment Index shows a 46 percent jump in the amount of social media chatter about Memorial Day travel, and a five-fold increase in the “Desire Ratio” – the share of positive versus negative comments about shopping – this Memorial Day compared to last year. http://bit.ly/LrPXJi

IBM Viewpoint

• IBM’s deep analytics capabilities enable clients to crunch enormous volumes of social media data in real time to better understand and respond to customers. The Social Sentiment Index around Memorial Day demonstrates how analytics can help travel providers and retailers prepare for and capture an upswing in consumer spending.
• The exponential growth of social networks like Twitter is an avenue for monitoring public opinion. IBM's ability to measure social sentiment can help organizations make more informed decisions by capturing valuable insights into unfiltered consumer attitudes and actions, predict trends or detect fraud.
• Analysis of social media data can reveal more than just what customers are saying -- it can enable companies to answer more complex questions such as what is motivating people to discuss a certain topic or to take a certain action.

What They're Saying

• The Wall Street Journal reports that the IBM Social Sentiment Index gives insight into the unofficial kick-off of the summer road-trip and vacation season. http://on.wsj.com/MNszf1
• TIME explains how the IBM Social Sentiment Index reveals something interesting about Americans’ plans for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. http://ti.me/LNcQxc
• IDC analyst Ruthbea Yesner Clarke blogs about how local governments can use social media analytics. http://bit.ly/LnHQxU

Update

• 2012.05.26 - original post