New Method Explores Behavior via Mind and Body

US market research firm Olson Zaltman Associates (OZA) has patented a new methodology that combines associative techniques with biometrics such as eye tracking and heart rate monitoring, to uncover the hidden motivations that drive human behavior.

Through the firm's newly registered Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET), participants are invited to find images that represent their thoughts and feelings about a given topic. During the subsequent interview, OZA uses storytelling and other probing techniques to explore the thoughts and feelings associated with their images. The end result is a 'digital collage', which depicts how the respondent views a topic, brand or product.

Findings are combined with biometric or physiological methods to provide data about not only how the mind is thinking, but also how the body is actually responding to specific marketing messages.

ZMET has been developed by OZA's co-founder and Harvard Business School Professor Emeritus Dr Gerald Zaltman, who says that understanding what customers think and feel requires multiple yet complementary methods 'rooted in the latest behavioral science advances'.

Dr. Joseph Plummer, Professor at the Columbia Business School and former EVP of McCann Worldgroup and Y&R, describes ZMET as 'a powerful improvement' in how the industry develops and assesses advertising in all media.

'It will help clients better understand the process of engagement and co-creation among consumers,' he adds.

Web site: www.olsonzaltman.com .

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