1 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS Researching subconsciousness CMAG 2008 Leeza Slessareva, PhD Cisco Market Research

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3 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS “Telling more than we can know” - Nisbet, 1971  Decision-makers often are correct about why they do the things they do  But decision-makers do not always have access to subconscious whys behind their evaluations, judgments, choices and purchase behaviors – Even when they don’t really know, decision-makers can easily provide reasons for their behavior – Even when they don’t really know, decision-makers are some times accurate in their reports

4 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS What is subconsiousness? Aware Automatic Little or no insight Consciousness Sub- Consciousness

5 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS Scientific evidence that we do not always have insight into the real whys  Priming Priming  Position effect  Automatic behavior  Messaging - evaluation of emotional impact  It is not unusual for people to change their attitudes when asked to state reasons why they feel or behave the way they do

6 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS CANCAN’T When interested in outcome at the awareness level, not the whys behind the decision/behavior A separation of time between the report and the actual occurrence of the process Formal rules of evaluationMechanics of judgment Easy to verbalize – cognitive, awareness Difficult to verbalize Nonevents Nonverbal behavior Discrepancy between the magnitude of case and effect Context When can we accurately report on the reasons behind our behavior?

7 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS How to study subconscious behavior – Experimentation

8 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS Using sunscreen increases your chances of maintaining healthy, young- looking skin Not using sunscreen increases your risk for skin cancer and prematurely aged skin Thomas Hine; Salovey, P – University of Minnesota.

9 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS How to study subconscious behavior – Response time Response time  The brain processes similar emotional preferences faster than dissimilar preferences. – When two stimuli of similar emotional preference are presented consecutively, reaction to the second image will be faster than if two images of dissimilar emotional preferences are presented. – If one object is liked and the other one is not, the reaction time should increase because the brain needs additional time to process dissimilar information.

10 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS Illustration: Stroop Task Green Red Blue Yellow Blue Yellow Blue Yellow Red Green Yellow Green

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15 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS How to study subconscious behavior – Psycho-physiological responses  Most common measures include: – Heart rate – Facial electromyography – Electodermal activity – Pulse rate – MRI

16 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS Psychological Example: Infidelity Experiment

17 CONFIDENTIAL SMO MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS Business Example: Pepsi vs. Coke – Dr. Montague MRI experiment  Give people Coke or Pepsi while they are inside an MRI scanner – When subjects are drinking Coke - more activity in the PFC (“pleasure” region) – When subjects think they are drinking Coke but are actually tasting Pepsi – more activity in the PFC  Conclusions: – We can “taste” brand images – Brand image matters. Two separate brain systems involved in ` generating preference – sensory and emotional VS. CHALLENGE

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