Ad firms using tools to help them read your mind
Ad firms using tools to help them read your mind
by John BIERS 24 December 2017
Emily Safian-Demers, of French advertising company Ipsos,
demonstrates an eye-tracking gadget used to mine consumers' raw emotions for
information
NEW YORK (AFP) - 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 recognize 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 emphasize 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
emphasized 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."
© 2017 AFP
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