The buzz around Pinterest has been around for a while now but what are the attraction and the purpose of the new social network?

Mashable’s beginner’s guide is a good place to start for an overview; however with most things the best way is to just to try it out. I’ve been a member for less than a week and have played around and wondered about what to add? Suddenly, an hour had past and my ‘boards’ began to fill up; but how and why?

The first emotional hook is the intrigue in applying for an invitation to the ’exclusive’ group; a little buzz being accepted and then the realisation that you have an empty profile -plus a potential audience of over 11 million (The Realtime Report)

Secondly, Pinterest helps by suggesting titles for your boards. I like to call them “mood boards”. It’s nice to have a starting point. Pinterest will even sign you up automatically to ‘follow’ people; a manageable number that you can check out an ‘unfollow’ if they don’t suit you. So, what will your boards be filled with?

Personally, I think about what interests me as time is short and I have so much to ‘pin’. Over time it will develop and grow, so why am I bothering? It’s like a record of my life in a non threatening way. I have confidence in my interests, there’s nothing to hide, and it’s enjoyable to share and see what others are interested in – all in pictures!

A recent gripe is that a number of websites I’ve wanted to pin either don’t have large enough images to show or any images to show at all, which is a shame. It makes the search to pin an interest take much longer. Interestingly, ecommerce sites have seen a huge increase in their revenue. It’s a genius way of promoting products by using the most reliable source – word of mouth!

The user experience of Pinterest is excellent. The ease of use and the fact that it’s hugely engaging makes it something that we will be using more and more in the future. -Organaising events,-sharing interesting landmarks,-various collections and even videos; Pinterests’ options are endless and exciting.

There’s so much more to say, but really interested in your views. Please comment below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1ZaDZo0z1I&feature=player_embedded

It’s an exciting development for businesses and brands; there’s a need to understand how customers feel towards products and services and even though Foviance has traditionally used research techniques to reveal conscious reactions, we are now able to unlock unconscious reactions with analysis of hidden reactions and impressions from customers using Emotional Engagement Measurement™.  This technique can boost revenues for our clients because they will understand on a greater level customers’ unconscious behaviours; it’s not just a case of knowing that experiences need to be optimised, but how to create better customer experiences and heighten engagement.

The importance that emotions play in a decision making process really cannot be ignored. By combining developed research techniques we can provide measurements in several key areas including; excitement, engagement, boredom and irritation (which provides a full picture of unconscious responses and reactions). It’s exciting for us to be able to provide the physical response to experiences, an area that was previously missing.

We have already witnessed great results for clear stimuli such as imagery, layouts, colours, email campaigns and more, which reveals entirely new levels of customer understanding.

To find out more about EEM™ and Emotional Engagement, please refer to our dedicated website

Foviance, the expert in customer experience, worked with SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI), a world leader in computer vision applications and developed their Emotional Engagement Measurement™ (EEM™)  service, which is a fresh approach to customer experience research. The Emotional Engagement Measurement™ service combines a variety of Foviance’s user research methods, eye tracking data collected with SMI solutions and brain data on emotional states collected with a specialised neuroheadset.
Measuring emotional engagement has always been a challenge for customer experience professionals because emotions are largely driven by unconscious processes.

Electroencephalography (EEG) data provides a view on how the brain responds to different experiences, revealing unconscious emotional states. Foviance’s expert consultants are able to use this brain data to offer clients actionable insights on how to increase the effectiveness of marketing and improve customer experience.
In a pilot project with Foviance UK, SMI developed a special interface to integrate the Emotive EPOC neuroheadset with the SMI Experiment Suite 360 ° eye tracking software and the SMI RED eye tracking device, which successfully delivered a service to analyse home, product and landing pages, as well as banner and email content.

By adding eye tracking to EEM™, each emotional reaction can be objectively associated with the focus of visual attention at a certain time. Or in plain words: “In an EEM™ study, we get deeper knowledge on the process of information processing because we know where someone was looking when the brain reacted in a certain way”.

Foviance is really excited to have this resource available, which will become the knowledge base of emotional engagement worldwide.

Explore the Emotional Engagement website

About Foviance 
Foviance is a leading customer experience consultancy that helps some of the world’s best known global brands to deliver better customer experiences that drive improvements in customer satisfaction for increased customer loyalty and better financial performance.

About SMI
SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) is a world leader in dedicated computer vision applications, developing and marketing eye & gaze tracking systems and OEM solutions for a wide range of applications.

• World’s first* neurological experiment into poor online customer experience proves existence of ‘web stress’
• Brain wave analysis indicates that consumers need to concentrate 50% more than normal when using a badly performing website
• Two most stressful points of the online sales cycle are search and checkout

* Based on extensive desk research in February 2010.

London, UK February 24, 2010 – CA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CA), the world’s leading independent IT management software company, today announced the first ever neurological study of consumer reactions to a poor online experience. The research proves that many consumers experience ‘web stress’ when trying to make an online purchase. The stress levels of volunteers who took part in the study rose significantly when they were confronted with a poor online shopping experience. In order to retain customers, attract new ones and prosper during the economic recovery, CA is calling for European businesses to focus on giving their customers the best possible online experience.

CA partnered with Foviance – a leading customer experience consultancy – to explore ‘web stress’ in relation to application performance, and its impact on consumer behaviour and buying habits. Brain wave analysis from the experiment revealed that participants had to concentrate up to 50% more when using badly performing websites, while facial muscle and behavioural analysis of the subjects also revealed greater agitation and stress in these periods.

During the study, volunteers were wired up to sophisticated neurological and physiological testing equipment, including an EEG (Electroencephalography) cap which was used to monitor brain wave activity. The volunteers then carried out a series of everyday online tasks such as finding and buying a laptop PC and travel insurance. Using all the data gathered, CA and Foviance identified the two most stressful points of the online sales cycle were search and checkout. At these two points, subjects experienced heightened levels of ‘web stress’. During the experiment, volunteers persevered and completed the purchase but in reality, more than three quarters of customers will abandon the site. The study also revealed that after a bout of heightened ‘web stress’, on average it took each participant up to a minute to return to a relaxed state.

“The results of this study sends out a clear message – businesses need to reduce ‘web stress’ and improve the online experience of their customers if they’re going to maximise returns from their web channel,” said Kobi Korsah, Director, EMEA Product Marketing at CA. “It’s not just about website design or internet connection speeds – the performance of a website is dependent on the performance of the web applications that support it. Businesses need an Application Performance Management (APM) solution which not only provides real insight into how customers are experiencing their web applications, but will proactively manage the performance and availability of these applications. This translates into better customer service, improved brand loyalty and increased sales.”

Catriona Campbell, leading behavioural psychologist, Director and Founder of Foviance, said: “Consumers have very high expectations of web applications and web sites – to be always available and instantly responsive. This experiment simulated the experience of underperforming web applications for our volunteers. The results show that when online expectations aren’t met, people quickly become agitated, confused and have to concentrate 50% more than normal. All these problems can be detected and prevented as long as businesses take a proactive approach to measuring the customer’s experience of web applications.”

The experiment builds on the CA 2009 Web Stress Index published last year which examined the frustrations associated with underperforming web applications. The research found that more than three quarters (77%) of European consumers blame either website owner or the website host (which is in any case chosen by the website owner) when an online application fails. It also revealed that if consumers encounter problems online, 40% will go to a rival website and 37% will abandon the transaction entirely. Only 18% said they would report a problem to a company, which means companies need to have their own measures in place to understand how their website is performing from the customer’s point of view.  

About the Experiment

Foviance carried out the study on behalf of CA at the labs of Glasgow Caledonian University in January 2010. Thirteen volunteers took part in the study – eight female and five male participants, aged between 22 and 42. The participants were from the UK, Italy, Spain, France, and Germany. During the study, volunteers were wired up to sophisticated neurological and physiological testing equipment, including an EEG (Electroencephalography) cap which was used to monitor brain wave activity. They then carried out a series of everyday online tasks such as finding and buying a laptop PC and travel insurance.

Download the study here

View video below: 2 minutes 34 seconds

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmYSLWGYZzA

Press contacts

Catriona Campbell – Foviance  info@foviance.com +44 (0)845 054 6500

Press Coverage

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Using an EEG (Electroencephalography) cap and sophisticated neurological and physiological testing equipment, volunteers were wired up during the study and had their brain wave activity monitored. Everyday tasks online such as finding and buying items were tested by the volunteers.

The results revealed that search and checkout were the two most stressful points of everyday processes carried out online, resulting in the volunteers exhibiting a heightened level of ‘web stress’. This type of stress results in more than three quarters of customers abandoning websites before they have completed the task that drove them to the site in the first place. To download the whitepaper a valid e-mail address is required, however Foviance will not contact you unless you specifically request it.

The golden age of the Web2.0 has seen an increasing number of customers complaining about bad online customer experiences. The online world is flawed with poorly designed websites delivering sought services in an undesirable fashion. But does that really put off customers provided that they get quality in what they pay for? What is it that we like so much about these Internet brands that don’t provide a good customer experience?

Let’s have a look at Amazon and Ryanair: frankly these sites will never figure on the hall of fame for the most smartly designed website. Amazon has a cluttered and messy layout all the way, whereas Ryanair looks cheap and is often mischievous in terms of pricing as the final price of a flight ticket rarely matches what’s advertised on the homepage.

But does that make customers stop consuming? Well not really, at least for the majority of them. And the reason is simple and well known in the marketing industry: most of the users are emotionally bonded to brands, even more when they are outstanding in some way. The Amazon site is a jungle (easy pun!) but it is also renowned worldwide for being the most popular and number one goods reseller website. The Ryanair site might be deceiving in terms of its flight fares, but it nonetheless remains one of the cheapest air carrier to fly with across Europe.

I think we all agree that “what it costs to us” is a key decision-making element when purchasing something. More generally, what matters is the end result and the quality we get for what we pay for. But is that enough to be used as an excuse for not delivering a good customer experience?

From a customer standpoint, it obviously isn’t enough as quality is expected throughout the process. From a brand perspective, the philosophy might be different. Executives may think that cheap experience is inline with the cheapness of the prices in place, or that money and effort not spent on the platform is spent on the quality of the actual service.

Whatever reason it is, those companies offering a poor online experience are playing with fire. Internet being generally their sole selling channel, they can hardly rely on other media to communicate their image and emotionally tie consumers. Should transactional processes, for example, be affected by design or conceptual shortcomings, customers could easily decide to move to new pastures. This is all the more valid in the current financial climate where comparison websites are flourishing, the competition (in prices and ideas) is becoming fiercer and customers are becoming increasingly demanding.

In conclusion, the emotional attachment to a brand plays a tremendous role in the overall brand experience, hence the emergence of new measurement techniques to assess emotional engagement such as the Emotional Engagement Measurement™ (EEM ™). However, I believe that companies only relying on brand perception might be digging their own grave by neglecting their customer experience.

This post was originally posted by Xavier Klingenfus

The session will be held at 9.30am at the Online Marketing event called “Barclays Online Banking – Putting the customer at the heart of it”

Hot topic : Electroencephalography (EEG), Download Foviance’s white paper on Emotional Engagement Research

The research, conducted initially in the gaming sector with PKR, reveals 5 measures of emotional engagement that reveal a great deal about customer experience at a subconscious level. A great deal of consumer behaviour has been conclusively demonstrated by psychologists as irrational and that emotion invariably trumps logical thinking. Until now there has been limited research in to emotional engagement online.

“It is no longer sufficient to create websites which are just easy to use, or have value for money products associated with them. Websites need to appeal to the subconscious; to engage with consumers at an emotional level” says Catriona Campbell, founder of Foviance with a background in behavioural psychology.

Revealing how people respond to specific aspects of an experience has been hard to measure, but by combining electroencephalography (EEG) with other research methodologies it is possible to accurately gauge emotional engagement.
Foviance’s approach, EEM^TM (emotional engagement measurement^TM) has been shown to offer significant new insights and enable brands to better meet the needs of the market.

“At Foviance we have proven with a number of brands that this holds true for websites. Using our neuro-technology to have a deeper understanding of the emotional facet of the customer experience, we have found we can deliver insight that other methods previously haven’t” says Campbell.

The film and advertising industries have widely used approaches combining EEG and qualitative research methods to help explore the depths of the subconscious, helping to create successful merchandising, packaging and creative conceptual ideas that people want.

Microsoft’s Halo 3, because of its player engagement, was the first person shooter
game to become the fastest selling entertainment product of all time. Microsoft’s Dennis Wixon comments, “Building Halo 3 with emotional engagement methodologies was essential to the product”.

When focused on a sector like the gaming industry, EEM^TM has enabled Foviance delve further into customers’ perceptions and responses. “It has helped us understand in more detail the satisfaction and impact something like a ‘hard luck’ or ‘congratulatory’ message may have. The implications for businesses in all sectors are extensive” says Marty Carroll, Consultancy Director at Foviance, and author of the white paper “Unlocking the subconscious: Understanding emotional engagement” available for download from the Foviance.com website.

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In any market, and in particular one that is in the throws of a global recession, making sure customers are satisfied is a critical success factor for businesses. In parallel, there is a growing focus on customer experience for businesses looking to not only increase customer satisfaction but also drive up sales and create new markets.

A great deal of consumer behaviour has been conclusively demonstrated by psychologists as irrational and that emotion invariably trumps logical thinking. Revealing how people respond to specific aspects of an experience has been hard to measure but by combining electroencephalography (EEG) with other research methodologies it is possible to accurately gauge emotional engagement.

Foviance approach, EEM™ (emotional engagement measurement™) has been shown to offer significant new insights and enable brands to better meet the needs of the market. And of course, marketers also know that connecting at an emotional level with consumers, pays commercial dividends. By measuring mind-states, emotions and other subconscious responses and marrying them up with cognitive responses, it helps us to understand the thinking, actions and behaviours of the respondents.

The film and advertising industries have widely used approaches combining EEG and qualitative research methods to help explore the depths of the subconscious, helping to create successful merchandising, packaging and creative conceptual ideas that people want. Similarly, quality customer experiences are vital to the long term survival of businesses and therefore the importance of getting to know your customers must also be combined with understanding them in new ways.

When focused on a sector like the gaming industry, EEM™ has enabled us to experiment further into the customers’ perceptions and responses. It has helped us understand in more detail the satisfaction and impact something like a hard luck or congratulatory message may have. The implications for businesses in all sectors are extensive.

Using techniques that provide answers that were previously unobtainable, Foviance describes the EEM™ approach in our May 2009 White paper.