WKU News

Perfecting a data analytics model that could help companies better target its marketing efforts is the goal of Abigail McGraw’s research project that was recently accepted for presentation at the 2020 INFORMS Business Analytics Conference.

McGraw, a double major in Business Data Analytics and Economics, will travel to Denver, Colo., April 26-28 and join more than 1,000 leading professionals in the data analytics field at the INFORMS Conference.

“This analysis has the potential to save any retail store thousands of dollars in advertising costs,” she said. “Instead of sending out promotions to random customers, they can now narrow their marketing campaign to those most likely to be in that niche market.”

McGraw’s research is a continuation of the capstone project in her analytics course and is proven to be applicable to her current internship with Abound Credit Union, where she uses predictive modeling to better assist customers.

“Predictive analytics and modeling are one of the best uses of data mining,” she said. “Not only are you gaining new information from your data, but you are able to create models to gain powerful insight into what story your data is telling about your company.”

McGraw, a senior from Louisville, is currently working on her research project with Dr. Lily Zhuhadar.

“She made sure I had all the resources necessary to complete my research and Is here to answer any of my questions.”

McGraw has presented her research several times locally, but considers this a terrific opportunity.

“I am most looking forward to getting to see what other topics my peers have been researching, getting to present my own research, and I am super excited to hear the main speakers,” she said.