IMPLICIT ASSOCIATION TEST (IAT)
Quantify the Hidden Associations People Have with Your Brand.
People say one thing and do another – the Say-Do Gap. Your consumers aren't trying to frustrate you, they're just humans, like the parent who told you "do as I say, not as I do."
But you can understand that gap with psychological research. IAT gives you that quantified understanding quickly, accurately, and in a way that is highly engaging to your consumers.
Social scientists have used IAT for 20 years to understand topics that are tricky to discuss, such as bias. For example, IAT reveals that certain jobs are still implicitedly associated with being male or female while the respondents truly believe they do not have this bias. We use it to quantify such implicit consumer perceptions.
In circumstances you face like the cluttered marketplace of today -- with limited time, constant distractions, and abundant choices -- research has shown implicit measures predict behavior behavior than explicit measures like surveys.
How It Works
IAT is a quantitative online tool that asks respondents to match your brand with key drivers, such as functional benefits, psychological outcomes, and emotions. IAT experience is not easily explained in words.
The best way to understand how IAT works is to experience one yourself.
Here's an example of IAT would apply to implicit brand perceptions. Let's say you were trying to assess how strongly Apple was associated with the idea of Trustworthy.
Two groups appear at the top of the screen and a prompt, in the form of a word or a brand logo, flashes at the bottom. The respondent must hit the "e" on their keyboard if the prompt matches with the group on the left, or the "i" if it matches with the group on the right.
In the first trial Honest is a synonym of Trustworthy, so the correct answer is the group on the left
This is an Apple logo, which corresponds with the Apple logo in the group on the left.
Dishonest is a synonym for Untrustworthy, so the correct answer is the group on the right.
For respondents, this quickly starts to feel more like a game than research. But while they're having fun, we're collecting hundreds of data points as we measure their responses for speed and accuracy.
In this example, if consumers find Apple to be highly trustworthy, they will react more quickly and accurately when the Apple logo is grouped with the word Trustworthy than when it is grouped with the word Untrustworthy. Or vice-versa.
Your IAT is tailored to your needs and highly customized with relevant key drivers. Specific response time benchmarking ensures rigor.
