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Implicit Testing
Understand What Consumers Really Feel, Not Just What They Say
Traditional questioning only gets you part of the picture.
Our implicit testing reveals the fast, automatic reactions that shape real choices, helping you understand what people truly connect with.
Why Implicit Testing Matters
The decisions people make are influenced by factors outside of their conscious awareness, so asking them questions doesn’t always reveal their true responses. Implicit testing gets underneath that by measuring the reactions people can’t easily control.
Instant impressions
Shows the fast, automatic reactions people form before conscious thought kicks in.
True associations
Identifies the qualities and emotions people naturally link to your brand.
Hidden barriers
Exposes the instinctive blockers that limit preference, trust or conversion.
People take time to process new information and work out how they feel about it.
Over time these feelings become increasingly automatic, allowing us to devote less energy into re-evaluating what is already established and connected in our minds.
It’s these established connections that we pick up on in our tests, allowing us to get a better measure of how people feel.
How Implicit Testing Works
Instead of asking people how they feel about a brand or why they behave a certain way, we give them little tasks and games, monitoring their behaviour.
This ranges from measures of understanding and processing (e.g. search tasks, looking at how quickly people can find a product in a new packaging design, or simple categorisation tasks) to measures tapping into the strength of people’s subconscious connection between concepts.
We all know that fire is linked to the colour red, for example, but how strongly is Coca Cola linked to heritage, or refreshment?
Implicit tasks also give people very simple, tangible choices, allowing us to measure their gut feelings and intuitive reactions, rather than rely purely on self-report. In addition, they are perfectly placed to measure changes over time, or to capture what impact an ad or a new launch has on how people feel about your brand. While people can’t always consciously reflect on the factors that influence them and their choices, implicit testing is able to get under the hood.
What this helps you understand
This is the insight behind better design, sharper messaging and stronger brand performance.
- Which brand assets drive instant recognition
- How your pack design lands on first glance
- What emotions or qualities people link to your brand
- Whether new ideas strengthen or dilute your positioning
- How different audiences react instinctively, not just rationally
- How changes over time shift perception
Mindlab approach projects with skill and tenacity; they are good at what they do and a pleasure to work with.
Phil Graves – Associate Director Frontier Economics
