Post on 17-Jul-2015
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Supermarket Battle:An eye-tracking study by Lumen Research
2nd October 2014
© Lumen Research Ltd 2014
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And now for something completely different…
With Tesco entering fray, everything is fair game in the price comparison battle.
ASDA took Sainsbury’s headline and made it their own cashing in to the sound of 2.3 seconds of engagement above our norm.
Asda converted the attention into valuable memory structures with 60% of respondents who saw the ad recalling it.
© Lumen Research Ltd 2014
Expected Actual
Standout 87% 96%
Engagement 2.7 5.0
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View Order Plot
The key to driving engagement with this ad was to have a simple design with concise text.
The ad also complies with the top left to bottom right viewing pattern, which we’ve observed across a range of print ads.
© Lumen Research Ltd 2014
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Feature analysis
There is a constant evaluation between effort spent and interesting information gained – An effort-boredom trade-off
This means that, in general, the further down the gaze path we travel the less attention a feature gets. This is why it’s important to design for time not space.
The ad might have been improved further still if the headline were positioned above the newspaper.
© Lumen Research Ltd 2014
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How did it work?
We can all see that Asda have managed to get one up on both Sainsbury’s and Tesco by using the headline for their own means. What you may not know is that this actually takes advantage of the authority biases.
The Authority Heuristic
Heuristics are mental shortcuts our brain uses to save us time. Authority statements such as “2 out of 3 doctors recommend…” work by playing to our subconscious tendency to obey authority. In this case, Sainsbury’s are indirectly suggesting that ASDA are the ‘authority’ on low prices by citing ASDA as the ‘value benchmark’.
Sainsbury’s aim to compete with ASDA’s low prices legitimises that idea that ASDA are seen as the ‘authority on low prices’. According to Robert Cialdini (2009), adverts with an authority figure are significantly more influencing.
© Lumen Research Ltd 2014
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References
Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1974). "Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases". Science, 185, 1124–1130.
Cialdini, R. B. (2009). Influence: Science and practice. Boston, MA: Pearson.
© Lumen Research Ltd 2014