One of my favorite books, Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things, was referenced in the below MIT blog post about a study that was done on how people bond with brands. What you'll witness below is the no duh, big a-ha phenonema.
"During the doctoral research, Ruth Mugge investigated the topic of product attachment – the strength of the emotional bond a consumer experiences to a specific product. Based on literature, four factors were distinguished that can influence product attachment:
1) self-expression (can I distinguish myself from others with the product?)
2) group affiliation (does ownership of the product connect me to a group?)
3) memories (related to the product)
4) pleasure (provided by the product).
Although these factors are all relevant for stimulating the experience of attachment to products, they differ in the degree to which designers can influence them through product design."
Agree! Read the aforementioned book to learn more about the submimenal effect design has on consumer and user emotion.
An interesting study was recently released suggesting the there is more to online metrics than CTR (click through rates). The study suggests that we should not only be measuring online success through CTR, but also through ad impressions. CTRs help determine explicit response (call to action) and ad impressions help determine implicit response (brand building). By applying traditional ideas about media impact (implicit and explicit response) to online banners, Chan Yun Yoo is helping us advertisers and clients think bigger picture about the role of the web – it’s not only a medium to drive quick response, but also a medium to develop brand impressions.
A good planner knows that the web is a complex beast that can play multiple roles in a brand's communication. It's our job to be able to pull out the right metrics to show the true story across the experience.
All rise!
