A mobile headset that captures consumers\u2019 reactions to marketing could change the way marketers advertise, design and merchandise their stores.<\/p>\n
The new technology uses biometric sensors to measure human reactions such as heart rate, skin conductance, eye gaze and brainwaves, and tracks a consumer\u2019s emotional state through facial recognition software.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bit like a lie detector test for the retail industry,\u201d says CBS Marketing Professor Ian Phau, who together with Dr Min Teah, Dr Isaac Cheah and Dr Billy Sung, has spent several years developing and refining the technology.\u00a0\u201cConsumers can\u2019t cheat. By measuring and analysing an individual\u2019s physiological reactions, a retailer can understand how a consumer really feels.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike traditional market research, data is collected in natural situations and in real time, providing reliable and objective information about what consumers think and feel when they see an advertisement or interact with a product.\u00a0It\u2019s versatility represents a marked move away from traditional marketing analytics in which consumer reaction to marketing content is measured through focus groups or interviews in a controlled environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe provide measurement and analysis to determine a subject\u2019s psychological reaction to any marketing content \u2013 whether it\u2019s an advertisement, branding, shop display, or even a political speech,\u201d explains Professor Phau.\u00a0\u201cBy measuring physiological reactions, we can inform a client how a person truly responds to a marketing stimulus, rather than the traditional methods of surveys or interviews.\u201d<\/p>\n
The data will better equip marketers to attract, retain and satisfy consumers, and could become increasingly important as brands proliferate in global and fragmented markets.\u00a0In October the product won the inaugural DuPont Sustainable Innovation Award, through demonstrating how the idea could become a valuable application to industry. A number of Australian and international businesses, from designer skin care producers to gourmet ice cream manufacturers have since expressed interest in the product\u2019s commercial potential.\u00a0\u201cIt will provide marketers and retailers with a valuable tool which could make a considerable difference to their approach to attracting consumers,\u201d says head judge of the awards, Professor Fran Ackermann.<\/p>\n
Curtin eventually plans to allow access to the technology to partners such as market research companies, under licensing arrangements.\u00a0\u201cIndustry and university collaboration is critical to Australia\u2019s productivity and competitiveness,\u201d she says. \u201cThe DuPont Curtin University Innovation Awards is the first step to fostering a long-term sustainable relationship which will work towards industry-connected research.\u201d<\/p>\n
As winners of the award, Dr Phau and his team will visit the DuPont Innovation Hub in Singapore, which houses nearly 200 scientists, engineers and business leaders.\u00a0\u201cDuPont recognises the importance of collaboration to achieve true innovation that will address unmet needs,\u201d says DuPont Sustainable Solutions\u2019 regional director, Rodney Nelson.\u00a0\u201cWe are privileged to support and partner with Curtin University, one of the top universities worldwide with a progressive approach and a strong research capability.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Professor Ian Phau, Dr Min Teah, Dr Isaac Cheah and Dr Billy Sung have won the inaugural DuPont Sustainable Innovation Award with their innovative mobile headset that captures consumers\u2019 reactions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4275,"featured_media":5858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-5857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":false,"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":false},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/300-DuPont-Innovation-Awards-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Curtin","last_name":"University","display_name":"Curtin University"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 05:53:46","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5857"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=5857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}