Founders Helen Nuki, Alexa Arrowsmith and Helen Law are looking to work with private and public sector organisations on identifiying what influences consumer behaviour, breaking away from the rational purchase funnels of the past.

In reviewing the published literature, Nuki says the Monkey See team has identified 100 different sorts of heuristics – rules of thumb, essentially, that consumers rely upon when making purchase decisions, but which are by no means rational and do not always lead to the best possible outcomes. An example of this is the way in which people often assume one product is better than another because it is more expensive.

The company name – taken from the saying “monkey see, monkey do” – speaks to this underlying irrationality, says Nuki. “Our behaviour is influenced by what we see other people do,” she says, referencing the Herd theory espoused by Mark Earls.

“The new research products are incredibly exciting as they measure many more influences on consumer behaviour than conventional research products”, says Nuki. “They are not just measuring what consumers think but enabling brands to see clearly the forces that are shaping and changing customer behaviour.”

Nuki was previously a partner at Hall & Partners, as was Monkey See co-founder Arrowsmith – though in between she spent seven months as a director with Engage Research. Law was most recently a research director at Hall & Partners.

The new company is online at monkey-see.co.uk.