The danger of relying on opinion—uncover the truth with eye tracking

Having worked for over 35 years in translating shopper research of all types into actions that can be taken in-store and online to win with the shopper, I am amazed how many decisions are still based on opinion.

Many managers do not recognize that they have “expert bias,” which is the expectation that other people will see things as they do with the same basis of knowledge as they have of a project. As a result, they are overly enthusiastic about the time a shopper will invest in finding out about their brand and are massively disappointed when the shopper does not notice them or recognize their superiority over competitors in the selling environment in which it has to succeed.

The importance of real-world testing in packaging design

In addition, many design agencies are so invested in the beauty of their packaging design that they fail to control the strike point where the shopper looks first and the reading pattern in a way that ensures the brand's key benefits and reasons to believe are seen in the fractions of a second that a shopper will give you attention and in the order that will convince.

Similarly, many designs are not tested in the real environment where they have to win on the shelf. I remember the confidence of the launch of Pantene into Nordic countries based on the opinion it had been successful elsewhere. No one realized that the white packaging of Pantene would be invisible versus the local white competitors that did not exist in other countries—a disaster caused by opinion with no checks.

These disasters can be prevented by simple eye tracking research using products like
Tobii Pro Glasses 3. In the training courses I run, I share eye tracking data from 205 Tesco shoppers across 44 categories (based on Tobii eye tracking research for a client shared at a conference) that shows that in a hypermarket only 8% of products are noticed and 3% actively considered.

This means you have a 92% chance your product will never be seen and a 97% chance no one will actively consider your brand.

This doesn’t match with the confidence based on the opinions of many marketers and design agencies I work with, and they take little action to protect against these mistakes.

The necessity of eye tracking research for effective digital in-store media

Having been involved in eye tracking research to test the value (or as it proved, no ROI) of in-store TV like “Tesco TV” across multiple countries when it was introduced around 2008. I think you must need your head examined to invest in the industry's latest idea of digital in-store media without looking into shoppers visual behaviour in-store. Just because you put something in-store does not mean shoppers will see it, nor that they will give it attention, nor that they will actually process that information and take action on it either now or in the future.

Surely a starting point of investing in store digital media must be:

• Is it seen?

• How long does the shopper look at it?

• Are they actually processing and reading my content?

All of this can be achieved by easily implemented eye tracking research allowing fine-tuning or complete re-working of the locations and the type of content put on this new media. I was horrified the other day to see an end display with a digital screen above it showing ads for a range of products.

The challenge was that the products physically on display were not related at all to the ads on the screens. If you have paid for the physical display products, do you know how much attention they have lost due to the distraction of the TV screen? Have you negotiated a discount as there is no advertising of your brand, but of other unrelated categories? If you have paid for the unrelated advertising on the TV screen, do you know if shoppers see it? After they have seen it, do they then go to your aisle to look in more detail at your product?

The value of eye tracking research over opinions in marketing decisions

All of these questions can be answered by simple eye tracking research. Is it not worth investing in seeing through the eyes of the consumer rather than believing the opinion of vested interests, before you commit your limited marketing funds?