Research Insight 5.1

Source: Simons, D.J. and Chabris, C.F. (1999), ‘Gorillas in our midst: sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events’, Perception , 28, 1059–1074.

Insight: With each eye fixation, we experience a richly detailed visual world. Yet recent work on visual integration and change direction reveals that we are surprisingly unaware of the details of our environment from one view to the next: we often do not detect large changes to objects and scenes ('change blindness'). Furthermore, without attention, we may not even perceive objects ('inattentional blindness'). Taken together, these findings suggest that we perceive and remember only those objects and details that receive focused attention. In this paper, we briefly review and discuss evidence for these cognitive forms of 'blindness'. We then present a new study that builds on classic studies of divided visual attention to examine inattentional blindness for complex objects and events in dynamic scenes. Our results suggest that the likelihood of noticing an unexpected object depends on the similarity of that object to other objects in the display and on how difficult the priming monitoring task is. Interestingly, spatial proximity of the critical unattended object to attended locations does not appear to affect detection, suggesting that observers attend to objects and events, not spatial positions. We discuss the implications of these results for visual representations and awareness of our visual environment.

URL: http://www.perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=p2952

 

Research Insight 5.2

Source: Soars, B. (2003), ‘What every retailer should know about the way into the shopper’s head’, International Journal of Retail Distribution and Management, 31, 12, 628–637.

Insight: Retail sector companies often overlook the positive contribution psychology could make to their success. At a time when more decisions than ever are made in‐store, any media must provide a pathway to the purchase that is subconsciously triggered and therefore it would be a wise move to spend more on below‐the‐line and through‐the‐line strategies. A key challenge is to create an environment where the shopper perceives a one‐to‐one relationship with the store; to optimise the shopper’s time; to make it appear as if the ranging and categorisation of products has been personalised just for them; and by devoting attention to this retailers will deliver an experience the shopper will want to repeat. So what is the smartest technique to pinpoint what they really want? By using a combination of brain imaging and eye scanning technologies to delve into the mind of the shopper, the desired insight could be within reach.

URL: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/09590550310507759

 

Research Insight 5.3

Source: Overmars, S., & Poels, K. (2015). A touching experience: Designing for touch sensations in online retail environments. International Journal of Design, 9(3)

Insight: In this experimental study, the researchers investigated how different online product presentation formats (static vs interactive interfaces) would lead to different types of emotional, or hedonic, responses from consumers. They found that interactive online interfaces that encouraged stroking gestures led to more positive emotional responses from users. This finding has important implications for web design, since it demonstrates the importance of bringing the online tactual produce experience closer to reality for online consumers.

URL:  http://www.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/viewFile/2020/702

 

Research Insight 5.4

Source: Baker, M. A., Shin, J. T., & Kim, Y. W. (2016). An exploration and investigation of edible insect consumption: the impacts of image and description on risk perceptions and purchase intent. Psychology & Marketing, 33(2), 94-112.

Insight: This research examines a marketing problem of globally significant environmental importance - how do we encourage consumers to have favorable reactions to edible insect food products? Looking at a range of consumption situations, the study examined consumer risk perceptions in relation to the consumption of edible insects. The authors find that in a retail setting, actual insect images that appear on product packages dissuaded consumers by increasing perceptions of functional, social, physical, and psychological risks. They also showed that vague product descriptions are more preferable than explicit descriptions especially when an edible insect image was not visually present. A final important finding was that social and physical risk perceptions received more salient impacts of settings than functional and psychological risk perceptions. 

URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mar.20847/full

 

Research Insight 5.5

Source: Levy, S. (1981), ‘Interpreting consumer mythology: a structural approach to consumer behaviour’, Journal of Marketing , 45, 3, 49–61.

Insight: In this classic paper from the 1980s, Sidney Levy analyses the myths and interpretations associated with food preparation and consumption by American housewives. While he talks here about associations such as raw food and representing avant-garde dining, similar interpretations might be made with today’s food choices.

URL: https://www.ama.org/publications/JournalOfMarketing/Archive/Pages/default.aspx  and access the PDF here: http://www.academia.edu/1483538/50._Interpreting_Consumer_Mythology_A_Structural_Approach_to_Consumer_Behavior