White papers

We all know that emotions play a critical role in decision making. Psychologists have demonstrated conclusively that a great deal of consumer behaviour is not rational and that emotion invariably trumps logical thinking. Of course, marketeers also know that connecting at an emotional level with consumers, pays commercial dividends. Measuring emotional response is not possible using the traditional tools of market research, such as surveys or focus groups, because people are simply unable to articulate their emotional states reliably. EEG (electroencephalography), conventionally used for medical research purposes, can however accurately gauge emotional engagement when used with other research methodologies.

This white paper describes how our approach, EEM™ (emotional engagement measurement™) can offer up significant new insights and thus enabling brands to better meet the needs of the market.

While conducting some recent work for the travel industry, we met customers who believed they were consistently misunderstood, and who felt they had never been able to find the experience they sought. These customers did not see themselves, or define themselves, in the way they were seen or defined by the industry. Agents attempting to sell typical holidays based on age, sex or occupation, for example, were often missing the mark wildly.

A survey of 530 respondents, with an even breakdown between men and women, all of which had travelled at least once in the last year, found that half had in the past chosen not to go on holiday to avoid what they feared would be the typical ‘singles’ holiday.

Foviance’s research demonstrates how a focus on travel industry can help to create markets, drive sales and increase customer satisfaction, as 68% of respondents said they would travel on their own if they could find the right holiday.

In this study we researched three airlines and their respective hotel partners plus three online travel agents (OTAs). Due to recent legislative changes in the travel industry, Airlines are now able to compete more directly with OTAs by offering packaged holidays.

Travel is one such sector which similar to retail has a multi-channel tradition. Before the advent of the Internet the travel sector relied on call centre, travel agents, Teletext and intermediaries as channels to market and we wanted to learn whether this experience has proved as valuable in travel, as mail-order has been to retail.

Our research has shown that the travel sector is on a par with the average level achieved by retail in online execution but failing when it comes to call centre and multi-channel customer experience. Only one of the organisations researched provided an acceptable level of call centre service. To help address these failings, this white paper gives recommendations that travel companies should adopt to improve their overall Customer Experience ratings.

A joint white paper with call centre partner RXP, investigating how retailers are currently delivering customer experience in a multi-channel environment and to identify what constitutes ‘best practice’.
As a joint initiative, Foviance and RXP have researched 25 leading UK retailers. We have used our ‘expert review’ methodology to look at both the online and offline customer support received during peak times - specifically in the run-up to Christmas and during the January Sales. We reviewed the Customer Experience through a combination of website usability analysis and contact by email and telephone recreating a typical customer journey.
As a result we have gained an insight into how the retail industry is failing to deliver a consistent experience across channels and embrace multi-channel selling. Most are missing a number of opportunities to increase brand engagement and loyalty, improve conversion rates and increase order values. To help address these failings, this white paper gives five recommendations that retailers should adopt to improve their overall Customer Experience ratings.