Getting inside customer’s brains

A company called Lucid Systems has developed a new technique that uses neurological and physiological disciplines to test emotional reaction to marketing messages. The technique, called Prism, measures pupil dilation, eye movement, galvanic skin response, brainwaves and micro-muscle movement. Is the word of respondents no longer enough to find out what they are thinking then?

There has been a rise in agencies using neuroscience to solve marketing problems over recent years. It appears that for many, measuring non-verbal reactions towards their brand, products and services has become a lot more important.

CEO of Lucid, Steve Genco perhaps goes some way to explaining why: “People tell you what they think you want to hear, which is very prevalent in focus groups and online research.” Prism can however detect whether what they say is actually what they feel.

Gives a whole new meaning to giving your thoughts to researchers. But is it a step too far? It seems to me a little too intrusive. Moreover, as with much qualitative research, just because one person thinks something does not mean everyone will. And, to quantify findings you will have to revert back to traditional methods which would surely defeat the purpose, as you would have to rely on respondents’ word once again. It do find it an intriguing technique though, it will be interesting to see if it becomes more widely used as time goes on and, more widely available.

However, maybe even using a placebo and just making respondents think that you were measuring their reactions would lead to more honest answers?