PRS IN VIVO Launches Pack and Product Test

Consumer insights firm PRS IN VIVO has launched the BEQual Toolkit, which applies behavioral science to projective qualitative research techniques using tablets and real-time feedback.

The firm is part of France-based BVA Group, which also owns BDRC, and uses behavioral science to help clients in nearly 50 countries understand, predict & influence consumer choice. The new Toolkit uses tablets to capture participants' input in projective qual exercises, and a real-time data link to transmit aggregated results to client stakeholders wherever they may be. Respondents react to new packaging designs after exposure to a prototype, using behavior which simulates familiar actions from social media platforms - for example posting a 'like' or creating a hashtag, to keep the process 'fun and intuitive'.

Sheryl Brie (pictured), Senior Qualitative Research Director and key product champion says of the proprietary technology: 'There is nothing new about projective techniques in qualitative research; good moderators have always had their personal tricks to elicit responses from participants. What is new in the BEQual Toolkit is that we have systematized the consistent collection of behavioral data in ways very natural and familiar to consumers: posting and commenting online, in platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. Via the tablet, they create a personal profile, draw and manipulate images, and post comments about what product and pack designs mean to them'. The kit also eliminates the possibility of moderator bias, says Brie, 'and keeps us honest as researchers as to what the participants actually saw and responded to'. Immediate access to data meanwhile means clients 'can actually start interpreting and putting the results into action while they are still in the research room!'

The company is online at www.prs-invivo.com .