WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- If a company could know the exact emotions that influence a consumer's purchases and measure those emotions more precisely, the company might be able to produce an extremely effective advertising campaign.
That is the objective of "Moods, Minds, and Motivations: Measuring Emotions for Advertising Results," an online offering prepared by Ipsos Advertising Research -- part of the Ipsos Group. It is the latest in a long series of attempts by researchers over the past several decades to acquire just such a measurement in hopes of finding a way to reach consumers more emotionally.
The issue of studying consumers and pushing their emotional buttons has become more controversial as researchers have using hidden cameras and other increasingly sophisticated methods to observe purchasing behavior.
As part of a relatively simple test of potential consumers, Ipsos created artist renderings of "Emoti*Scape," which, much like the famous pain scale in hospitals, presents a series of faces portraying a set of emotions -- everything from warm-fuzzy, happy and entertained to bored, confused and disappointed.
Researchers present Emoti*Scape to consumers and then ask three basic questions:
--What feelings do you have from this ad?
--What feelings is the advertiser trying to use and portray within the ad?
--What emotions do you associate with being a brand user?
"Emotions are only one step in the bigger process of understanding motivation and behavior," Ipsos writer John Hallward noted in a short report, "Emotions are the Equivalent of First Impressions."
"Just because a consumer feels curious or feels appreciated, it does not fully explain their behavior," he wrote. "Is the consumer curious and he or she wants to try the product (because it is fun to try new things), or is he or she equally curious but not likely to buy the product until they hear what others say about the brand (because they are risk adverse)?"
He noted that emotions open consumers to a set of possible responses or outcomes -- positive and negative -- but the specific outcome in the test set was explained more adequately by going beyond the emotions and including personal values and factors he calls self-interest drivers.
"In a general sense, these values and drivers build from the basic physical needs we have for food, sleep, sex and so on, and take us into the less tangible, more emotional needs and desires (such as self-esteem and self-actualization)," Hallward wrote.
Ipsos researchers learned the more consumers associate personal values with a particular brand, the higher their motivation to buy that brand. During the study, they asked consumers to score themselves for various personal traits representing their values. The researchers found the closer a brand matched each respondent's own view of himself or herself, the more that consumer wanted to buy the brand.
"That is, consumers tend to be motivated toward brands that match how they see themselves, and it is more important than what they aspire to be," Hallward continued. "Thus, these personal values tend to explain brand purchase interest and are more useful than looking at emotions alone."
He added that brand motivation can be better understood by looking at self-interest drivers, "such as excitement, harmony, possession of prestigious things, and so on."
Hallward said the researchers found that asking about "both personal values and self-interest drivers allowed us to better explain brand purchase interests than using one set of measures."
Another Ipsos researcher, Dave Walker, examined the different aspects of eliciting an emotional response from consumers. In a short report titled "Celebrity Ads that Sell," Walker pondered the question of whether using celebrities in advertising actually helps sales to a significant degree.
He noted it is a longtime practice for advertisers to use celebrities or stars, "in a bid to win consumers' attention, interest and favorable attitudes toward their brands." Whether they use famous athletes, actors, musicians or even political figures, advertisers often make use of well-known personalities.
"Does it really work?" Walker asked. His equivocal answer: Sometimes it does and sometimes it does not.
He cited the famous late adman, David Ogilvy, who reported many years ago: "Testimonials by celebrities ... are below average in their ability to change brand preference. Viewers guess that the celebrity has been bought, and they are right. Viewers have a way of remembering the celebrity, but forgetting the product."
Walker said the research by Ipsos tends to confirm Ogilvy's pronouncement, but there are other factors that can help celebrity ads garner the advertiser more bang for the buck.
"The obvious solution is to make sure that the ad and the celebrity are focused on the brand or product. A less obvious finding is that successful celebrity ads clearly identify both the brand and the star. If the celebrity is not identified in the ad itself, viewers may be distracted with their own questions," he noted.
Apart from such studies as Ipsos recently conducted, consumer testing has begun to transcend relatively simple focus groups and instead samples actual consumer behavior with hidden cameras in actual stores or even fake stores set up as laboratories. This practice was reported widely by the news media several years ago with the Once Famous shop in Minneapolis, which was set up by the Omnicom Group.
In an attempt to blunt criticism from privacy advocates, the store displayed a sign reading: "Your Opinion Counts. Once Famous is a retail lab store. Besides selling new and unique merchandise, we track and record consumer opinion. We are currently in 'test mode.' If you prefer not to be video- or audiotaped during this time, kindly visit us when this sign has been removed. If you shop during a 'test mode' your comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Thank you."
British business academic Kevin Morrell, of Warwick University, questioned in an essay, "Big Brother is watching you," the ethical boundaries pushed by sophisticated testing.
"An increasingly sophisticated approach to marketing consumer goods has implications for ethics in research and for our right to privacy," Morrell wrote. "Modern retailing uses sophisticated technology to observe the shopping process at a level of detail greater than ever before possible. Many marketing innovations seem designed to influence people's choices on a preconscious level. Is this something we should accept, as modern, enlightened consumers, or are we drifting toward an Orwellian society where our every move is watched?"
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"Moods, Minds, and Motivations" is available at ipsos.com/Ideas/latest.aspx
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