There has been recent progress in the field of market research, as the UK firm Brain Juicer, has come up with innovative new market research techniques that they proclaim will “reinvent market research”.To test their study of behavioural economics, Brain Juicer struck a deal with European lingerie company Hunkemoller where they agreed to implement the firm’s new sales techniques concerning consumer experience.

After a year of research in select stores, they proved that the usage of aromatherapy increased sales by a whopping 20% per customer! In addition, the customers that ate chocolate while shopping spent an average 6% more than those that didn’t.

What is interesting about the market research is that it completely shifted the perspective of the company. According to the Economic Times, the market intelligence manager for Hunkemoller said: “We realized that people do not always make such rational purchase decisions”.

This is a great example of the concept of active evaluation we discussed in class. A consumer goes into a store knowing they are going to buy one product, but through spontaneous action based on their reaction to the given environment (chocolate, odours) they go in a completely different purchasing direction.

Photo Credit: Forbes, Sound Strategies