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Metrics Company Launches Low-Cost 'EmotionTracking'

Think of it as an online mood ring for TV spots. While companies have long been able to measure which emotions ads evoke in consumers, an advertising metrics company has adapted it to the Web. And it claims it can get marketers emotional feedback on ads for a fraction of what conventional research costs.

MediaAnalyzer--a German company with offices in Toronto, London, and New York--says it developed the EmotionTracking technology six months ago, and has been using it in Europe with such clients as Vodafone and Johnson & Johnson.

"What makes this different than other emotional research," says Charles Boyar, vice president, U.S. operations for MediaAnalyzer, "is that we can do it with just a PC and a mouse, and use consumers all over the country."

Consumers view the spot, and use an onscreen slider device to record whether they are feeling negative or positive emotions. The farther the slider goes to the negative side, the more red the screen becomes; the more positive the feelings, the more green. The company uses 150 to 200 consumers from around the U.S., versus the 30 to 40 who might be tested in the conventional method. "We can turn around results in 15 business days, usually at about 30% of what conventional research would cost," he says.

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The technology is similar to the company's AttentionTracking, which enables consumers to indicate with a mouse click the precise parts of ads that intrigue them, what are they likely to remember, and whether the ad will motivate them to make a purchase. (The technology was developed by the company's founders, whose research at California Institute of Technology focused on psychology, eye-tracking and computer technology.) U.S. clients for that service include Conde Nast, Colgate, and Procter & Gamble.

For Boyar, the most intriguing thing about EmotionTracking is the number of times it can detect whether an emotionally charged ad-- even a very good one--actually creates a disconnect from the brand's image. "Sometimes, the more emotion a spot has, the more negative impact it has--it can actually damage the way consumers feel about the brand."

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