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Face To Face: Integrating facial expressions and survey tools

SARAH WALKERMILLWARD BROWN

MILLWARD BROWN NEUROSCIENCE PRACTICE

8-strong team across the globe, with network of local experts

Over 500 projects to date, using a wide variety of methods, in a range of countries

Continual program of development and assessment of methods

GOAL:

TO INTEGRATE NEUROSCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY-BASED METHODS INTO THE RESEARCH WE DO FOR CLIENTS

‘NEUROMARKETING’ IS A BROAD FIELD

ALL INDIRECT MEASURES OF RESPONSES TO MARKETING AND BRANDS

Brain Scanning

Brainwave measureme

ntFacial coding

Implicit association

measurementAutonomic

arousal

Neuroscience

Cognitive Psycholog

y

Physiology

Eye Tracking

WHAT IS FACIAL CODING?

Ekman (1972) confirmed universality of 6 core expressions

Ekman & Friesen (1978) developed Facial Action Coding System to consistently code facial expressions & movements

Darwin: Expressions are universal and shared with animals

Based on the idea of many facial expressions are instinctively shown in people’s faces

FACIAL CODING HELPS US UNDERSTAND EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO ADVERTISING IN GREATER DETAIL

Survey metrics are extremely good at capturing overall response to a piece of advertising

Adding facial coding allows us to investigate what is driving these emotional responses on a moment-by-moment basis

AUTOMATED FACIAL CODING

Technology from Affectiva enables us to:

• Record respondents’ facial reactions to marketing stimulus

• Automatically code them for emotional and cognitive states

• Diagnose emotional reaction, moment by moment, without relying on verbal report

MAKES NON-VERBAL EMOTIONAL DIAGNOSIS AFFORDABLE AND SCALABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME

HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS

Emotions experienced

Expression aggregation and

analysis

Facial expression recognition

Panelist turns on webcam

Facial features identified

THE SYSTEM WORKS SIMPLY AND QUICKLY AS PART OF A STANDARD COMPUTER INTERVIEW

THE SYSTEM CODES FOR AN ARRAY OF EXPRESSIONS

Valence(Net Positivity)

Attention(Concentration on task)

Expressiveness(Engagement)

D I M E N S I O N S O F R E S P O N S E

Enjoyment

Confusion / Dislike

Surprise

E M O T I O N S

Disgust

Results from facial coding are interpreted alongside Link™ findings into an interactive dashboard

THE REAL POWER COMES FROM THE INTEGRATION WITH SURVEY RESPONSES

FACIAL CODING HAS ADDED INSIGHT IN MANY DIFFERENT SITUATIONS

Highlighting the power of key moments Optimising Ad length

First viewSecond view

Understanding wear-in and comprehension

CREATING A SCALABLE TOOL LETS US BUILD UNDERSTANDING ACROSS A LARGE NUMBER OF ADS

ACTIVELY ENGAGING ads generate stronger expressions

POSITIVE EXPRESSIONS relate to increased enjoyment and likelihood of short term sales

SURPRISE & DISGUST can indicate disbelief & distrust of ideas

TESTING MORE ADS HELPS US EVOLVE OUR UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETATION

Variation can be more informative than magnitude

Context is key to interpreting what is driving expressions

HOWEVER...

Integrating ‘funky data’ and survey responses has not been without its challenges!

For the approach to succeed it needed to be:

RESPONSIBLE: Making sure what we are measuring is meaningful

RELIABLE: Making sure it works in the real world, with real respondents

REPEATABLE: Making sure our teams are equipped to sell and interpret projects on their own

“This is the future…

right?”