Abstract
This research project has the goal to verify whether the application of neuromarketing techniques, such as implicit association test (IAT) techniques and emotional facial expressions analyses may contribute to the assessment of user experience (UX) during and after website navigation. These techniques have been widely and positively applied in assessing customer experience (CX); however, little is known about their simultaneous application in the field of UX. As a specific context, the experience raised by different websites from two well-known automotive brands was compared. About 160 Italian university students were enrolled in an online experimental study. Participants performed a Brand Association Reaction Time Test (BARTT) version of the IAT where the two brands were compared according to different semantic dimensions already used in the automotive field. After completing the BARTT test, the participants navigated the target website: 80 participants navigated the first brand website, while the other half navigated the second brand website (between-subject design). During the first 3 min of website navigation, emotional facial expressions were recorded. The participants were asked to freely navigate the website home page, look for a car model and its characteristics and price, use the customising tool, and in the end, look for assistance. After the website navigation, all the participants performed, a second time, the BARTT version of the IAT, where the two brands were compared again, this time to assess whether the website navigation may impact the Implicit Associations previously detected. A traditional evaluation of the two websites was carried on by means of the classic heuristic evaluation. Findings from this study show, first of all, the significant results provided by neuromarketing techniques in the field of UX, as IAT can provide a positive application for assessing UX played by brand websites, thanks to the comparison of eventual changes in time reaction between the test performed before and after website navigation exposure. Secondly, results from emotional facial expression analyses during the navigation of both brand websites showed significant differences between the two brands, allowing the researchers to predict the emotional impact raised by each website. Finally, the positive correlation with heuristic evaluation shows that neuromarketing can be successfully applied in UX.
Highlights
Advances in technology, digital transformation, cost pressure, and the emergence of new channels have considerably changed the way customers shop and interact with brands (Gauri et al, 2016; Lemon and Verhoef, 2016; Bolton et al, 2018; Grewal et al, 2018; Lee, 2020)
This study was performed remotely by utilising software, including iCode, for online implicit association test (IAT) provided by NEUROHM and FaceReader 8.1 software from Noldus for emotional facial expression analysis
The main output of FaceReader classifies facial expressions from the participants according to intensity
Summary
Digital transformation, cost pressure, and the emergence of new channels have considerably changed the way customers shop and interact with brands (Gauri et al, 2016; Lemon and Verhoef, 2016; Bolton et al, 2018; Grewal et al, 2018; Lee, 2020). Classic research techniques primarily based on qualitative methods such as self-report measures and interviews, largely predominating in UX research (Pettersson et al, 2018), require development for new UX evaluation methods This development can improve practicability and scientific quality (Vermeeren et al, 2010), leading to multidisciplinary research methods based on more objective data (Verhulst et al, 2019). Among them, neuromarketing represents an evolving field of scientific investigations that have shown valuable understanding of consumer behaviour and its links with emotions in perception and decision-making processes. This area combines theories and practises from fields of behavioural sciences, including neuroscience, psychology, and sociology, to determine the reasoning and patterns of choices of consumers. As defined by Ale Smidts, as the first definition of the term, neuromarketing is, “the study of the cerebral mechanism to understand the consumer’s behaviour in order to improve the marketing strategies” (Stasi et al, 2018)
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