How to Apply BeSci in Consumer and Market Research

This is blog is adopted from a book chapter of Building Behavioral Science in Organization.

Behavioral science can be used to strengthen and improve a variety of Practice Areas across an organization. Namika Sagara explains its application to Consumer and Market Research.

How a Behavioral Scientist Contributes

As organizations attempt to gather information about target markets and customers, behavioral science can be leveraged by organizations to gain a deeper and more holistic understanding of consumers by applying behavioral principles and frameworks in various areas including but not limited to:

● Intent vs. action gaps

● Automatic and habitual behavior (e.g., how they are formed and disrupted, how long they last)

● Emotional and motivational drivers behind behaviors (e.g., understanding why consumers do what they do)

● Non-conscious factors influencing consumer decision-making process and choices

There are two major ways behavioral scientists can contribute to understanding of consumers and other stakeholders. One is to apply behavioral frameworks and principles to ‘traditional’ market research (see Section 1 below). Another is to leverage existing behavioral science literature to better understand consumers, without conducting primary research of your own (see Section 2 below).

Section 1: Applying Behavioral Science to ‘Traditional’ Market Research

Behavioral science can be applied to many different areas of market research including but not limited to:

● Copy, claim and ad test

● Pack test

● Attitude and usage test

● Consumer segmentations

● Various tracking programs

● Other custom surveys (both qualitative and quantitative)

 Behavioral science can be used to optimize the basic consumer research design, such as how we ask questions and in what order. Such framing effects have been well-documented in judgment and decision-making research. In addition, a change in the order in which the questions and answers are presented can lead to a change in the responses due to the effect of priming.

Unfortunately, there is often not a ‘neutral’ way of framing or ordering questions. Therefore, it is important to think about how consumers actually think and behave in the real-world, and try to mimic this in a research environment.

Another way to apply behavioral science to market research is to leverage behavioral frameworks. For example, Regulatory Focus Theory has shown that people tend to have two different motivations: promotion mindset and prevention mindset. 10 Consumers with a promotion mindset are more motivated to achieve their goals and desires and to become their ideal selves (e.g., the best version of yourself). In contrast, a prevention mindset is when consumers’ motivation is centered around fulfilling their duties and obligations, and they are more motivated by their ‘ought’ self (e.g., the kind of person who you think you should be). These underlying motivations can influence desire for different products and services, but also how they experience these products and what they remember about the experiences.

By understanding deeper motivations, you can gain insights not only into what consumers say they do but also into why they behave the way they do.

Section 2: Using Behavioral Science Literature to Understand Consumers.

As many readers may know, behavioral science can tell you a lot about how people process information. For example, we know that framing can lead a consumer to be more loss averse. It is true that the intensity of loss aversion differs for each individual, and that there are contextual effects. However, the guideline that certain framing leads consumers to be loss averse generally holds across different contexts. This is one example of knowledge that behavioral scientists can provide without additional primary research. Because behavioral science literature can teach you about how consumers process information, and what drives consumers’ behavior, it can guide you towards a deeper and more nuanced understanding of consumer behavior.

By leveraging thousands of published principles, behavioral scientists can help you understand how your consumers process the information you provide via different platforms, such as ads, copy, website, package, and in-store signage. Using the example of Regulatory Focus Theory discussed above, behavioral scientists can identify if and how your marketing collaterals are non-consciously communicating product benefits in a promotion or prevention way (or both). These insights are not limited to the usage of language; it also applies to how different stimuli, such as images, color, and location on the page. For example, products placed at the bottom of the ad or package are non-consciously perceived to be heavier. And more subtle effects such as borders around text and logos can provide more structure and reduce certain psychological barriers (e.g. uncertainty about product information. Consumers usually cannot articulate the impact of these factors when asked in surveys or interviews because they are unaware that these principles exist. Two key approaches for behavioral science to contribute to a better understanding of consumers are discussed above. Each has its pros and cons, and one may fit better with the needs and resources your organization has. However, the most optimal approach for holistic understanding is to use a combination of both since each will provide different insights.

How to Integrate Behavioral Science

 In order to integrate behavioral science into primary research, you can collaborate with behavioral scientists on various research projects. As discussed above, behavioral scientists can review surveys and discussion guides to ensure that the wording, the order of questions, and answer options are appropriately framed. In addition, behavioral scientists can help you select the most effective behavioral framework to use in research based on research goals and business challenges. They can then apply the appropriate framework to guide the design of surveys and interview guides. For example, imagine you have a project assessing sunscreen usage. Traditional market research may ask if and how often consumers use sunscreen, and what brand they prefer. Behavioral science can go above and beyond what consumers (intend to) do, and uncover underlying motivations that customers are unaware of. By using the behavioral framework of Regulatory Focus Theory, you can measure your consumers’ general tendencies to have a promotion versus prevention mindset,13 and you can measure to what extent consumers believe that your products will fulfill their promotional or preventative mindset. Similarly, you can determine whether consumers have either mindset specific to your product (vs. general tendencies). For example, do your consumers use sunscreen to free them up to have the most exciting and fun vacation they can (ideal self)? Or do they use sunscreen to fulfill their responsibility as parents and to protect themselves and their kids from sunburn (ought self)? The behavior of sunscreen usage might be the same (e.g., they always apply sunscreen when they are out in the sun) but the motivation behind the usage is different. This is important because you can apply these insights to your marketing strategies and tactics. For example, if research tells you that your consumers use your products to fulfill promotion mindset, then your marketing strategies should communicate through different language and images how your products can help achieve their goals and desires and become their ideal self. If research tells you that your consumers use your products to fulfill a prevention mindset, then your marketing strategies should communicate how products can help avoid negatives and become their ‘ought’ self.