Why did you splurge on that new pair of shoes? Or that
pricey smartphone? More and more advertisers are trying to tap into the
unconscious to divine the invisible forces that drive those spending
decisions.
Using gadgets to track eye movements, computer
maps of faces to capture a momentary grin (approval) or squinting
(anger), and sensors to measure perspiration or monitor brain activity,
companies are mining consumers' raw emotions for information.
Traditionally,
ad firms have measured the success of their campaigns through consumer
surveys, but that technique has its limits.
“It's not
that people won't tell you, they actually can't tell you why they're
making the decision they're making,” said Jessica Azoulay, vice
president of the market intelligence practice at Isobar, a digital
marketing agency.
The new techniques recognise that our
purchase decisions are driven by both rational and emotional factors,
and reflect research showing the brain takes in information on different
levels.
They “enable us to capture many different types
of emotions and to be able to profile the emotions that are happening
very granularly on a second by second basis,” said Elissa Moses, chief
executive of the neuro and behavioral science business at Ipsos, a
consultancy and market research firm.
“People won't be
able to tell you that something irritated them in scene three or
thrilled them in scene seven, but we'll know from looking at the facial
coding,” Moses said.
The technologies can help track if
brands are maintaining their edge over competitors, and make ads more
effective by determining what to highlight, for example whether to
emphasise the distress of allergy symptoms or the relief of treatment
when pitching medications.
And the techniques are being
applied to other industries, such as retail, which is experimenting on
ways to attract customers in the Amazon era.
“Ultimately
there is a dance between the conscious and unconscious,” Moses said,
noting that “in order to actually buy a product, you have to make a
conscious decision.”
Measuring in milliseconds
Some of the techniques were first employed in the 1970s, but now are being more widely adopted as equipment has improved.
An
eye tracking test uses technology-enhanced glasses with a camera to
record what a person is seeing on a television or in a store and read
how long the eye settles on a particular cue.
That can
be combined with other methods, such as galvanic skin responses with
sensors applied to a person's hand to read perspiration, and
electroencephalography (EEG) which reads brain activity through sensors
on a person's head.
The data is used to produce a “heat map” with yellow, orange or red “hotspots” that show where the person's eye fixated.
Techniques measuring arousal can signal whether an ad stands out amid today's media avalanche.
Other tests that are becoming more popular seek to shed light on unconscious associations with products or shopping needs.
Johnson
& Johnson has tested thousands of consumers about Tylenol pain
relief and other over-the-counter products, showing them quick-fire
images or words that connote a particular emotion.
Responses
are tracked to the tens of milliseconds, said Eric Dolan, associate
director for global strategic insights at Johnson & Johnson.
The
insights can help determine “whether we want to dig in and reinforce
those emotional spaces,” or rethink the marketing to convey a different
message, he said.
Picking the pitch
Tivity Health turned to many of these techniques for its
“Silver Sneakers” fitness program for seniors, hiring Isobar to help it
devise a marketing strategy based on a psychological profile of
potential members.
Isobar had more than 1,000 seniors review a series of rapidly presented images and words about exercise.
Based
on their clicks, the report showed the population most valued exercise
because it made them feel empowered or “ready to go.”
The
finding was important as Tivity weighed potential marketing campaigns,
including “Living Life Well,” which featured images of age-defying
seniors, such as a grandfatherly figure balancing a toddler on his back
while doing push-ups.
These ads performed better than an
alternative campaign showing groups of smiling seniors together in swim
class and in a gym which emphasised the social aspect of Silver
Sneakers.
That campaign appeared to fall flat with
seniors who view exercise as a means of staying independent, or who may
be intimidated at the thought of immediately exercising in a group.
The
results countered Tivity's assumption that the social aspect of the
program was the “key motivating driver for members,” said Elizabeth
Rula, who directs research for Tivity Health. “We were a bit surprised.”
