Measuring Consumer Behavior

WORKSHOP

Date: Wednesday, August 25
Time: 10:00-12:30
Location: Curie
Chairs: René de Wijk, (Wageningen University and Research Centre, The Netherlands)

Assessment of consumer behavior in specific situations, using observational and physiological methods, is becoming increasingly important in understanding conscious and unconscious consumer behavior. An increased understanding of consumer behavior may result in the development of improved consumer products and in more healthy dietary patterns. A growing number of techniques is available to assist researchers in measuring various aspects of consumer behavior such as walking patterns, product selection, meal composition, and eating/drinking. Due to advances in digital video, sensor technology and computer speed, complex measurements of behavior and physiology are now possible. Integration of these techniques allows multimodal measurements. With the growing number of techniques, the challenge for the researcher to choose the right solution becomes larger. Questions to be answered in order to select the right combination of solutions include:

• How do I upscale techniques that have proven themselves in the laboratory to reallife test situations such as supermarkets and restaurants? In the recently constructed ‘Restaurant of the Future’ in Wageningen (The Netherlands), observation of everyday behavior is combined with psychological, physiological and  sensory measurements. Other research requires observation of consumers in other situations, such as hospitals, supermarkets, and school  canteens.
• Which tools do I use for observation: video, physiological measurements, tracking, facial expressions analysis, head movement, eye-tracking – or a combination of these methods?
• Measuring consumer behavior can result in an overload of acquired data. How do I select, analyze, transport, and store these data in an effective and safe way?

This workshop intends to bring together users and developers of measurement tools for consumer behavior, to discuss the state of the art, advancements, experiences, expectations and bottlenecks. As such it will provide a platform for exchanging information about the opportunities, challenges and needs in the fast developing area of consumer behavior research. It will be organized as a series of presentations, followed by group discussion.

Program

• René de Wijk (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands): Measuring consumer behavior in the Restaurant of the Future.
  134 Measuring Behavior 2010 - Eindhoven, The Netherlands
• Oliver Amft (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) The development of a system for automatic monitoring of consumer eating and drinking behavior.
• Svetlana Bialkova & Hans van Trijp. (Wageningen University, The Netherlands). Is Eyetracking an effective experimental tool for capturing consumers attention?
• Marten den Uyl (VicarVision bv, The Netherlands): Use of FaceReader for Measuring facial expressions in real-life situations.
• Leanne Loijens (Noldus Information Technology bv, The Netherlands): Inside Consumer Experience: studying consumer behavior in the field.

Audience
This workshop aims to bring together researchers involved in consumer behavior research, as well as developers of technology and tools for measuring consumer behavior.