Signs in train stations across Britain remind patrons to “Mind the gap”—the gap being the space between the train and the platform. In the world of customer experience, there’s an equally precarious gap—that space between what customers say they want and what they actually want. Well, a company in Chicago is minding that gap. Explore Research opened a behavioral science shopper lab in which it uses eye tracking, facial coding, EEG and GSR technologies to test, measure and understand what customers subconsciously want. By understanding these subconscious driver of behavior, the lab believes brands can gain valuable insights that lead to measurable gains.
Customers are tested by putting on eye-tracking headwear and placed in a physical environment, or putting on a virtual reality headset with eye-tracking capabilities and immersed in a preset virtual environment, which can be easily changed.
The 7,500-square-foot physical lab allows for different store formats, and can accommodate runs up to 60 feet or large-section testing. The physical and virtual labs can be used for future testing, package testing, planogram testing, innovation and signage testing.
“We tell our clients to think of our shopper lab as a movie set where we can stage any environment to test real reactions and behavior,” says Anne Stephenson, Founding Partner of Explorer Research. “One week our lab might be set up to replicate a quick service restaurant and the next week it replicates a grocery store. We will also use sound—music and background noises—as well as scent, as these are all factors that shape how we respond to different environments.”
The lab also includes a dedicated focus group room, and area where brands can watch the shopper lab. Explore Research has a similar lab in Toronto, Canada, and says this is the first of its kind in the United States.