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TNS Magasin has once again raised the bar of shopper research by combining EEG and eye tracking. A highly confidential project has just been completed for a blue chip retailer: the results reveal the power of this groundbreaking approach and the potential of bio-sensory research.
With this development TNS Magasin is building on its vast in-store expertise and years of experience in genuine eye tracking – as opposed to field of vision recording – to deliver unparalleled shopper insight.
The new technique uses EEG (electroencephalography) from EmSense and Magasin’s own eye tracking technology to investigate shopper behaviour at an unprecedented level of detail. EEG measures the brain’s electrical activity via electrodes placed on the scalp. Combined with respiration, heart rate, temperature and head motion measurements, this captures shoppers’ emotional and cognitive responses.
Magasin’s eye tracking enables every single eye fixation of every individual shopper to be recorded and analysed. A fixation in this context is defined as 3/25th of a second. This is the point at which the brain registers a piece of information. So in contrast to merely recording what was in front of shoppers it measures precisely what attracts each one and which elements are being used at what stage in the decision-making process.
The company is also working with fMRI techniques to understand more about the role of memory in store.
Siemon Scamell-Katz, Founder of TNS Magasin, explains ‘The combination of these two powerful methodologies is fundamentally challenging many received ideas about in-store decision-making. At last we are able to gain insight into responses to the visual stimuli that the shopper actually looks at, as well as prefrontal cortex responses. This enables us to gauge the relative roles of emotion and cognition at each and every stage of the shopping journey to understand, literally, what is going on in shoppers’ minds.
‘This has the most fundamental ramifications for marketing and new product development alike. Brands really need to go back to basics and redefine what they are trying to achieve in the light of what is nothing less than a whole new dimension of knowledge about their customers.’
However, he cautions ‘As the importance of shopper research is being increasingly recognised, a lot of companies are trying to jump on the bandwagon without any experience in the field or knowledge of the most appropriate tools.’ He cites the example of Galvanic Skin Response (GSR).
‘We judge that GSR is unsuitable for FMCG shopper research. GSR measures physiological responses such as skin conductivity and temperature in an attempt to gauge emotional reactions. But in so many FMCG categories there is little or no shopper involvement as their purchases are habituated: much the same week in, week out. Because there is insufficient difference in emotional arousal between these categories, GSR is simply not sensitive enough.’
For further information contact TNS Magasin on +44 (0)01858 461461 or visit www.tns-magasin.com
Tags: eye tracking, eye tracking and EEG, in-store decision-making, shopper, shopper consultancy, shopper research, siemon scamell-katz, TNS Magasin