POPAI Lines Up Multi-Mode Shopper Study

In the US, Point-of-Purchase Advertising International (POPAI), a not-for-profit trade association for retail marketers, has launched a multi-mode Shopper Engagement Study which will use neuroscience, eye-tracking and shopper interviews to investigate the power and speed of action of in-store marketing.

The first wave of the study, carried out in supermarket type stores, will consist of two modules: a conventional pre- and post-shopping round of interviews with 2,400 respondents and a less conventional module which will involve participants wearing portable EEG equipment while they shop. This will be combined with eye tracking to tie shoppers' physiological responses to what they were looking at when they made a purchasing decision. This methodology is being used to eliminate mis-recall and denial issues.

The study will build on other intensive point-of-sale work conducted by POPAI in the past and will be conducted by the same companies: SmartRevenue, a technology based shopper insight company and neuroscience firm Sands Research. The team will be lead by Lily Lev-Glick, Principal of Shopper Sense.

Richard Winter, the association's President, said: 'POPAI is committed to answering the industry's most important questions using the most exceptional people, proven methods, and advanced technologies available. Our goal is to build on our previous study, which took a position on what percentage of the purchase decision was made in store while adding even greater relevance and context.'

According to Lev-Glick, 'The neuroscientific focus is an excellent complement to the vast amount of purchase decision data and behavioral insights that POPAI is known for. By looking through the lens of the shopper in conjunction with the inner workings of the mind and then combining those with POPAI's proven methodology of measuring levels of in-store decision making, we will expand the understanding of shopper behavior.'

POPAI represents 1,700 companies worldwide and is online at www.popai.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.