The Internet has brought many changes to society. People are increasingly accustomed to expressing their views and preferences on social networks and social media websites. The emergence of platforms such as Facebook, Uber, Taobao, peer-to-peer applications, and new computing and communications technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G cellular networks has generated tremendous amounts of new information that opens the possibility to study a wide range of human behavior.

With this backdrop, CBSA leverages the massive data on the Internet to generate quality insights that complement conventional studies to aid business and social policy making. To date, a large fraction of academic and industry research is produced based on conventional methodologies such as opinion polls, surveys, consumer experiments, or secondary data analysis. CBSA seeks to complement this research by generating analysis and views using social “big data”. In other words, we tackle complex business and social problems by listening to what the crowd says on the Internet..

Our sample projects include the construction of a sentiment index about publicly-listed companies based on social media posts, whether Internet trolling affects crimes, and whether law and policy affect the sentiment and relations among individuals and the government in a society. We welcome like-minded scholars to join us in exploring these (and many other) interesting topics that can potentially generate a positive impact on business practices and social welfare.

I hope you would appreciate and enjoy these research projects and their insights. We look forward to your continuous support.