Sona Systems, a management software platform that allows researchers at universities all over the world to run behavioral labs, is being used in TCU’s Neeley School of Business and College of Science and Engineering. TCU installed Sona Systems in 2020 and receives about 700-800 participants for behavioral labs each year. The software acts as a participant management tool to recruit students to partake in these behavioral labs, according to Sona Systems. Neeley specifically uses Sona Systems research for gathering marketing analytics and customer insights. On the other hand, the College of Science and Engineering lets students in the Department of Psychology use Sona to gain experience with psychological research. The Sona Systems research done through Neeley and the Department of Psychology helps TCU professors publish academic journals to build TCU’s credibility. “Part of what school rankings and prestige are based on is how well the professors publish and conduct research, so these research studies and student responses are important in finding insights about cutting edge topics,”  said Jennifer D’Angelo, a TCU marketing professor. D’Angelo participated in Sona research as an undergraduate at the University of Southern California. She now co-runs the behavioral labs with Gretchen Ross, a TCU marketing professor.  “We are better able to pursue academic research and knowledge through the labs,” Ross said. “It can be a practical tool, we are able to gain customer insights and as a student you are able to learn something.”

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