Innerscope Research

Innerscope Research

Type	Private
Industry	Market Research
Founded	2006
Headquarters	Boston, USA
Key people	Carl D. Marci Brian Levine
Products	Consumer research Market measurement
Website	Innerscoperesearch.com

Innerscope Research is an integrated consumer neuroscience research firm founded in 2006 and based in Boston, Massachusetts with an office in New York City. Using applied neuroscience tools such as biometrics, eye tracking, facial coding as well as fMRI, often integrated with traditional measures of self-report, the company aims to measure in a more comprehensive way consumers’ non-conscious emotional connection to brands, products and services.

The company services Fortune 500 clients and works in multiple domains using a neuroscience informed framework (sometimes referred to as neuromarketing). Its research offering includes the evaluation of video advertising, shopper marketing, media platforms, online/mobile user experience as well as a variety of custom studies from testing fragrances to automobile driving experiences. Innerscope’s goal is to help its clients understand the role of non-conscious processing in decision making.

On May 27, 2015, Nielsen completed an acquisition of Innerscope Research and renamed its combined offering as Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience. Dr. Carl Marci was named Chief Neuroscientist.

Company Information

TECHNOLOGIES USED:

Innerscope combines conscious and non-conscious research to gain insight of consumers’ emotional response to media content on various platforms. Integrating multiple measurement tools such as facial coding, eye-tracking, voice analysis, fMRI as well as implicit testing combined with the measurements of biometric reactions, Innerscope believes that consumer choices are heavily influenced by non-conscious motivators.^[1] Working with hardware and software developers, Innerscope has developed a proprietary biometric sensor system that measures heart rate, skin sweat, respiration, and motion. Worn as a belt, the device wirelessly sends the wearer’s data to a back-end software platform for analysis on how emotionally engaged participants are with the media they consume.

In an effort to gain more data at a lower cost, the company developed a neuroscience kiosk system called Sensus, which provides marketers with a cost-effective way to gain insights into consumers’ conscious and non-conscious attitudes and emotions.^[2] Sensus collects data by combining the biometric measures of heart rate, respiration, motion, skin conductance, facial coding and eye-tracking followed by a self-report survey. The standalone kiosk system allows marketers to collect data at a variety of entertainment and shopping locations across the U.S.

APPLICATION:

Brand Immersion Model (BIM)

With the growth of new media platforms and the development of mobile advertising and media viewing, Innerscope has sought to understand the effectiveness of advertising on multiple media platforms used individually and in conjunction with other platforms. Innerscope introduced the Brand Immersion Model, a new, neuroscience-informed model for understanding media engagement in a multi-screen multi-channel environment.^[3]

Collaborating with companies such as Fox Broadcasting Company and Turner Broadcasting System, studies found that emotional engagement was much stronger with television than online viewing, but television viewed with similar online content showed the strongest points of engagement. Consistent with the model, other studies examining the impact of interacting with social media on a second screen while watching TV on a primary screen makes viewers more emotionally engaged than if they were watching alone without social media. While in some cases it distracts viewers, second screen use also can augment the TV experience.^[4]

Company History

NOTABLE PROJECTS:

Super Bowl Studies

Innerscope annually studies the Super Bowl to identify which ads are most emotionally engaging – a far better predictor of success than traditional research methods.^[5] Each year, during television’s most watched event, Innerscope collects live biometric data to measure viewers’ non-conscious responses to advertisements with the goal of understanding advertising effectiveness and consumer behaviors. The results of its 2012 Super Bowl study were featured on CNN.

In 2014, Innerscope partnered with Time Warner Medialab and Temple University to conduct a study that allowed viewers to watch the Super Bowl in an environment that would resemble a live viewing of the sporting event. The research was designed to measure consumer engagement and media habits, using biometrics technology, in settings like a theater, a living room, a mock shopping area, and eye-tracking stations.^[6] The researchers then gave ads based on levels of biometric engagement to Temple University to measure the brain activity using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging).^[7]

Path-to-Purchase (Campbell’s Soup)

Innerscope also conducted research concerning path-to-purchase and consumer packaging with companies including Campbell Soup Company.^[8] The research firm’s work played a significant role in Campbell Soup Company redesigning its condensed soup label.^[9] The research looks at physiological responses such as perspiration and increased heart rate and marketing.^[10]

HISTORY:

The company was founded by Dr. Carl Marci and Brian Levine in 2006 out of their relationship at the MIT Media Lab. The pair realized their research effectively could predict the outcome of people’s behaviors using algorithms and biometric technology.^[11] Innerscope has been recognized with ARF Innovation and Rising Star Awards, ESOMAR Best Presentation Award, and as a 2013 EXPLOR award finalist at IIR’s TMRE.

On May 27, 2015, Nielsen completed an acquisition of Innerscope Research and renamed its combined offering as Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience. Dr. Carl Marci was named Chief Neuroscientist.^[12]

References