1. Mobile Web Stress
Understanding the neurological impact of poor web performance
Tammy Everts
@tameverts

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1Why care about mobile web performance?
2Why neuroscientific mobile testing?
3What is emotional engagement research?
4How did we perform our study?
5What kinds of insights did we gain?

5. It’s a mobile-first world.

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eMarketer, June 2014

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55% of all time spent on retail sites takes place on a mobile device.
comScore, October 2013

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Stuart McMillan, Schuh’s Journey to RWD (Conversion Conference 2013)

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By 2017, retail mcommerce is expected to hit $113 billion – 26% of total ecommerce sales.
eMarketer, September 2013

11. Keynote, 2012 Mobile User Survey
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13. Mobile shopping cart abandonment rate is 39% greater than desktop rate.
2013 Google I/O
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Case study: The impact of HTML delay on mobile business metrics

15. Skava/Harris Interactive, 2013
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16. Two things are slowing down your site for mobile (and they’re completely beyond your control).
Latency – can range from 35 milliseconds to 350+ milliseconds per resource (e.g. images, CSS files)
Connection – 3G can be up to 15 times slower than broadband
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17. RWD is awesome, but it *can* come with performance penalties.
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18. Why neuroscientific mobile testing?
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•2010 EEG study of desktop users
•Throttled connection from 5MB to 2MB
•Found that participants had to concentrate up to 50% harder
•Afterward, participants reported negative brand associations

20. “95% of the consumer’s decisions are made at the subconscious level.”
Dr. Gerald Zaltman, Harvard University Executive Committee of Harvard University’s Mind, Brain and Behavior Interfaculty Initiative
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23. The problem with surveys…
Traditional research relies on eliciting post-cognitive responses.
But thinking and talking about emotions changes and distorts them.
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Simplified cognitive timeline

25. Five benefits of neuroscientific testing
1 Evaluates think/feel (not say)
2 Quantified data
3 Moment-by-moment interaction
4 Cause-and-effect triggers
5 Fresh, deeper insights
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26. EEG Emotional Engagement Study: How We Did It

27. Our research team
Seren – leaders in customer experience & service design
NeuroStrata – expert consultants in blending neuromarketing applications
Neurosense – global leader in implicit methodologies
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28. The brands we tested
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29. Our test subjects
•24 participants (12 male and 12 female)
•Pre-screened to ensure normal cognitive functioning
•Experienced mobile device users
•Did not know they were part of a performance study
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30. Methodology
•Standardized set of shopping tasks (browsing and checkout)
•Testers served sites over one of two speeds:
–normal Wifi
–artificial 500ms delay
•Using EEG headset and eyetracker, measured moment- by-moment responses
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Why test a 500ms delay?
Case study: The impact of HTML delay on mobile business metrics

33. 500ms delay: Peak frustration results
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34. 500ms delay: Average engagement results
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35. Impact of site speed on post-test brand association
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36. If pages aren’t fast, everything suffers.
Content “boring”
Visual design “tacky” and “confusing”
Navigation “frustrating” and “hard-to-navigate”
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38. Bonus Study: Implicit Response Test The effect of loading speed on brand perception

39. We react faster to congruent stimuli than incongruent stimuli.
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https://www.projectimplicit.net/index.html

41. Two-part methodology
1Pre-test
2Test
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Implicit pre-test
Two brands – Easyjet and Ryanair – were measured against 24 attributes.

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46. Implicit pre-test: Brand mapping
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47. Implicit pre-test: Purchase intent
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48. Implicit test
1Participants then viewed one of two videos depicting a flight selection/booking process:
•Normal
•Slow (500ms delay per page)
2Each brand is measured again against the same 24 attributes.
3Difference between normal and slow indicates effect of speed on brand perception.
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49. EasyJet: Impact of 500ms slowdown on each dimension
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50. EasyJet: Impact of 500ms slowdown on each attribute
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51. Ryanair: Impact of 500ms slowdown on each dimension
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52. Ryanair: Impact of 500ms slowdown on each attribute
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Brand perception summary
•500ms delay triggered downward shift in perception for both companies.
•Overall, EasyJet enjoyed a more positive brand perception. Therefore the impact on EasyJet was greater than on Ryanair.
•Impact varied across attributes for each brand:
–EasyJet site suffered more in Purchase Intent and Functional attributes.
–Ryanair suffered more in Warmth/Friendliness dimensions.

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55. Takeaways

56. 1Slower web performance has a clear, measurable impact on people at a neurological level.
2People feel “web stress” even when shopping under ideal conditions.
3Slow sites can seriously undermine overall brand health.
4The nature and scale of impact varies, depending on a number of factors (e.g. inherent strength/weakness of brand).
5Greatest risk is to purchase intent.
6Excellent opportunities to strengthen overall brand by investing in performance optimization.
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58. http://www.radware.com/mobile-eeg2013/
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59. Sources
Web Stress: A Wake-Up Call for European Business (Foviance, 2010) http://www.ca.com/us/~/media/files/supportingpieces/final_webstress_survey_report_229296.aspx
2013 Social & Mobile Commerce Consumer Report (Shop.org / comScore)
http://shop.org/research/original/2013-social-mobile-commerce-consumer-report
2012 Mobile User Survey (Keynote)
http://www.keynote.com/docs/reports/Keynote-2012-Mobile-User-Survey.pdf
2013 State of the Union: Mobile Ecommerce Performance (Radware)
http://www.radware.com/mobile-sotu2013/
The Danger of a Poor Mobile Shopping Experience [INFOGRAPHIC]
http://www.getelastic.com/the-danger-of-a-poor-mobile-shopping-experience-infographic/
Case study: The impact of HTML delay on mobile business metrics (Web Performance Today, November 2011)
http://www.webperformancetoday.com/2011/11/23/case-study-slow-page-load-mobile-business-metrics/
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Questions?
Tammy Everts
@tameverts tammye@radware.com webperformancetoday.com