We implement Four Principles to our approach to concept testing:

Principle 1: 

Relativity – People make choices comparatively

Consumers estimate the value of things according to how they compare with other items, experiences, prior decisions and current behaviors (anchors).  So we…

Thoroughly define a consumer’s current context:  product history, decision criteria and experience. In addition, we determine who or what governs their personal and social points of reference, e.g., do my neighbors drive a BMW?

Principle 2: 

Emotions rule all decision-making

The most important predictor of behavior is the consumer's emotional reaction. But most people have an extremely difficult time getting in touch with their feelings, and an even harder time putting them into words. So we use…

A tool based on the work of Paul Ekman, a contemporary psychologist and pioneer in the study of emotions and their relationship to facial expressions. The tool uses photo images of faces to measure respondents' emotional reactions to stimuli, concepts, and messaging.

Principle 3: 

Beware of Cognitive Dissonance

When a consumer knows that he or she is going to have to explain a decision, he or she will choose based on their ability to rationally defend that decision, grasping for tangible and easily perceptible attributes. However, rational and emotional drivers are intertwined, and it’s a difficult task for the consumer to see the relationship between the two. So we use...

Rational driver card sort: A series of attribute statements are generated based on communication objectives and presented to participants in the research. This provides the opportunity to explore the alignment of the communication goals with the concept and also opens the opportunity for a deep dive into the meaning of the respondents’ opinions.

Principle 4:

Don'T forget about the ego

Consumers look for products and brands whose cultural meaning corresponds to the person they are or who they want to be. Much of the pleasure we derive from products stems from the unconscious recognition that the product will either enhance our self-image or signal something essential about us. So we…

Indirectly explore the personality of the likely consumer. Specifically, a battery of personality attributes is presented. The respondent chooses the characteristic that best describes the purchaser of this product. This results in a safe, hypothetical proxy into the identity associated with the concept, e.g., who does the creative appeal to, what does it deliver in terms of psychological benefits (does it make them feel confident, secure, taken care of...) and indirectly provides insights into the tone and style of how to successfully communicate the concept.