François Abiven (Repères)CEO

Implicit testsMeasuring impact

beyond declared responses

Gaël Allain (Mémoire & Marketing)Doctor in cognitive psychology

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1. The consumer: a complex study subject

2. The theory behind implicit tests

3. Case study : Packaging & values

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1. The consumer: a complex study complex study subject

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“The trouble with market research is

that people don’t think how they feel,

they don’t say what they think and

they don’t do what they say”they don’t do what they say”

David Ogilvy

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of brain activity is below the

threshold of consciousness

Over of what we “know” was learned

implicitly (unconsciously)

6It is essential to take emotionsinto account

The majority of our decisions and thoughts are a combination of emotion and reason

7But emotions are difficult tomeasure!

Being capable of measuring:

• Subtle (low intensity) emotions

• Unconscious (hidden) emotions• Unconscious (hidden) emotions

• Mixed (simultaneous) emotions

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IRM EEGNeurofocus’ Mynd

Skin conductance(Affectiva’s Q

sensor)

An enriched toolkit

sensor)

Eyetracker(Tobii) Facial Coding

(Paul Ekman’s FACS)Implicit Association Test

(Harvard’s implicit project)

9Measuring emotions atREPERES

Projective qualitative

research among a large number

of people

The analysis of non-verbal

communication

Implicit tests

in conjunction with

What is the impact of a stimulus beyond what

consumers say?

What are the emotional bonds between a brand and consumers?

What happens before I express an

opinion?

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2. The theory behind implicit testsbehind implicit tests

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What is perception?What is perception?

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What do you perceive here?

How did you recognize it was a shoe?

Perception: a complex mechanism…

The recognition of an object (sometimes in 20 milliseconds) whatever its position is possible because perception automatically draws on knowledge already stored in our memory.

There is therefore a dual mechanism at work: extraction of perceptual information from the environment and implicit retrieval of information stored in our memory.

13Perception: a matter of sense…

…and individuals

The conclusion we arrive at will differ according to the information we retrieve from our memory! Recognition of an object is therefore very heavily influenced by the first pieces of information we retrieve from our memory, which tend to be the most frequent, recent… and/or (emotionally) striking ones!

14Perception: a matter of sense…

…and available resources

The whole recognition process is conditioned by the availability of our resources!Yet in a “modern” environment we no longer have the resources needed to process all the information that is constantly bombarding our brain. The brain therefore makes an (attentional) selection of the information and only part of it is truly analysed.

15Perception process: a mechanism that is...

Perceptions of the outside world

…highly subjective!

…and largely unconscious!

System 1Quick

AutomaticUnconscious

The emotional field

System 2Slow

ConsciousRequires effort

The field of rationalisation

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Against this background, how can we evaluate we evaluate perceived brand image?

17Traditional (declaration-based) questionnaires give access to a part of perception

A certain number of well known biases exist…

!Questionnaire

biases exist…

- Social desirability- Post-rationalisation- Checked responses

Declared responses are not always predictive of behaviour

Info accessible to the consciousness of the people interviewed

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Questionnaire

The challenge…

To complete “traditional” measures with a non declarative measure

For a fuller and more reliable assessment

Non declarative measure

For accessing the unconsciousInfo accessible to the consciousness of the people interviewed

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Look for the values automatically associated with a product

Principle:

How?

Measure reaction time Distract attention

20Principle of implicit tests (example of priming)

Response time measured

Method:

A test comprising a succession of sequences!

Focus point

Stimulus

Lexical decision taskIs it a real word from the French language?

TargetDog

Cat

21Principle of implicit tests (example of priming)

Focus point Focus point

Stimulus Stimulus

TargetTarget

CarPasta

Fast “word” response Slower “word” response

Focus point

Stimulus

Target

“Pseudo-word” response – distraction sequence

22Principle of the test carried out

Implicit test

To reveal the values conveyed unconsciously

Overall analysis

Full diagnosis of the

Explicit test

To evaluate the inferred brand image, from a more

rational point of view

Full diagnosis of the brand values perceived by

consumers

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3. Case studyPackaging & valuesPackaging & values

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Background

A brand wishes to develop new packs that

will effectively convey certain key values of

their brand.

Preliminary in-depth qualitative research to identify

the words used by consumers to express the valuesthe words used by consumers to express the values

of the brand

5 packaging routes have been developed

The aim is to evaluate the impact of each pack as

regards its capacity to convey the different values of

the brand

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Protocol

An implicit association test combined with

traditional explicit questioning

Hall test

In Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Metz,

Bordeaux and Nantes from 16 to 25 May

20112011

On-street recruitment and in-hall

interviews

Self-completion CAWI

120 female consumers of the product category

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Interviews

20 minute questionnaire:

Screener: eligibility questions

Implicit questionnaire

Test of 6 stimuli (packs) and 5 target

words (brand values)

Explicit questionnaire

For each pack, evaluation of the target

words on an agreement scale

Brand image inferred by the packs

on a dozen items (CATA)

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Declared results

28Purchase intent

Pack 3Pack 1Pack 5Pack 4Pack 2

74% 76% 79% 78%80% 85% +

Positive purchase intent

CURRENT

The current pack stands out in terms of positive PI

The other packs are at parity

74% 76% 79% 78%80% 85% +

29Comprehension of the packs and inferred image

Pack 3Pack 1Pack 5Pack 4Pack 2

Clear, easy to understand

pack

Easy to understand

pack

Credible pack

TRUST

QUALITY

CURRENT

pack

-- TRUST

-- PROXIMITY

-- LOYALTY

-- ADDED VALUE

-- QUALITY

pack

PROXIMITY

QUALITY

Pack is difficult to understand

Does not match

expectations

No particular outstanding points in terms of inferred brand image

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Implicit results

31How can we analyse the results?

Pack 3

Pack 1

Pack 5

Pack 4 Pack

2

TRUST

QUALITY

PROXIMITYLOYALTY

ADDED VALUE

CURRENT

1 QUALITY

Measure the PACK – WORD response time Variance analysis

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Currentpack

Trust

Proximity

Current pack performancesReminder of the explicit results

85% PI +

Credible pack

TRUST

CURRENT

Added value

Confirms the good explicit results

Strength of the association

TRUST

PROXIMITY

QUALITYQualityLoyalty

33Pack_3 performances

Pack 3

No particular outstanding

points in terms of

brand image

Currentpack

Trust

Proximity

Reminder of the explicit results

A very impactful pack, whereas in the explicit results it was rather “lifeless”

Added value

LoyaltyQuality

34Pack_1 performances

Pack 1

Currentpack

Trust

Proximity

Reminder of the explicit results

No particular outstanding

points in terms of

brand image

The pack struggles to convey the brand values effectively

Régule

Added value Loyalty

Quality

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Action: cross the implicit data with the explicit data

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Implicitassociation

Score = 3 Score = 5 Score = 6

Overall score for the

pack

Summary of pack performances

++

Explicitassociation

++--

Score = 1 Score = 2 Score = 3

Score = 2 Score = 4 Score = 5

In line with the average

--

In line with the average

37Summary of pack performances

++ No

reworking needed

Less explicit activation

Work on an explicit (long-term) message

Implicitassociation

++--

-- Pack that requires an

in-depth reworking

Less implicit activation

Work on “scripting the brand values”

Explicitassociation

In line with the average

In line with the average

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++

Score= 25

Summary: current pack

PROXIMITY

TRUST

ADDED VALUE

Implicitassociation

CURRENT

++--

--

QUALITYLOYALTY

ADDED VALUE

Explicitassociation

In line with the average

In line with the average

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++

Score= 23

Summary: pack 3

PROXIMITY

QUALITY

TRUST

ADDED VALUE

Pack 3

Implicitassociation

++--

--

LOYALTY

ADDED VALUE

Explicitassociation

In line with the average

In line with the average

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++

Score= 14

Summary: pack 1

ADDED VALUE

Pack 1

Implicitassociation

++--

--PROXIMITY

QUALITY

TRUST

LOYALTY

ADDED VALUE

Explicitassociation

In line with the average

In line with the average

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Benefits of the method

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Benefits

• Innovatory results:

• A complementary evaluation method to traditional tests that is well suited to FMCG

• Precise reworking recommendations for excellence as regards pack execution

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Benefits

• A new dimension of the consumer that it is possible to quantify

• A reliable measure already proven in the field of cognitive psychologycognitive psychology

• A simple measure to implement

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Thank you for your attention!attention!