The document discusses a study on the impact of mobile web performance on emotional engagement and brand perception using EEG technology. It highlights that slow loading times on mobile devices negatively affect users' emotions and can lead to higher frustration and lower engagement, ultimately harming brand health. The findings emphasize the importance of optimizing mobile performance to enhance overall consumer experience and brand strength.

1. Tammy Everts (@tameverts)
eMetrics Chicago – June 16-19, 2014
Emotional Engagement
and Brand Perception
How we used EEG technology to measure
the neurological impact of slow web
pages on mobile device users

2. Slide 2
Have you ever done any of the following
when a site takes too long to load?
a. Cursed at your phone
b. Screamed at your phone
c. Thrown your phone

3. Slide 3
Tealeaf/Harris Interactive, 2011@tameverts

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

5. It’s a mobile-first world.

6. Slide 6
55% of all time spent
on retail sites takes
place on a mobile device.
comScore, October 2013
@tameverts

7. Slide 7
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8. Four all-too-common
mobile assumptions

9. Slide 9
Assumption #1
My site isn’t slow on mobile.

10. Radware, 2013 State of the Union: Mobile Ecommerce Performance
Slide 10
@tameverts

11. Radware, 2013 State of the Union: Mobile Ecommerce Performance
Slide 11
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12. Assumption #2
Mobile users expect pages to be slow.
Slide 12

13. Keynote, 2012 Mobile User Survey
Slide 13
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14. Slide 14
Assumption #3
Mobile users want to browse, not buy.

15. Slide 15
By 2017,
retail mcommerce
is expected to hit
$113 billion –
26% of total
ecommerce sales.
eMarketer, September 2013

16. Mobile shopping cart
abandonment rate
is 39% greater
than desktop rate.
2013 Google I/O
Slide 16
@tameverts

17. Slide 17
Assumption #4
Users will stick around, even if pages
are slow, if they really want to buy.

18. Skava/Harris Interactive, 2013
Slide 18
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19. Slide 19
Case study: The impact of HTML delay on mobile business metrics@tameverts

20. Slide 20
1 Mobile usage (time on site) for retail has overtaken
desktop.
2 People expect sites to be at least as fast on their
mobile devices as on their PCs.
3 Most mobile sites are far too slow.
4 This slowness has a significant impact on
abandonment rate and other business metrics.
@tameverts

21. Why neuroscientific mobile testing?
Slide 21

22. Slide 22
• 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
@tameverts

23. Slide 23

24. Slide 24

25. What is emotional
engagement research?

26. “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
Slide 26
@tameverts

27. Slide 27

28. Slide 28

29. Patients with damage to
emotional parts of the brain
cannot make decisions,
despite having no change in IQ.
Antonio Damasio, Descartes’ Error
Slide 29
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30. The problem with surveys…
Traditional research relies on eliciting post-cognitive
responses.
But thinking and talking about emotions changes and
distorts them.
Slide 30
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31. 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
Slide 31
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32. Simplified cognitive timeline
Slide 32
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33. EEG Emotional Engagement Study:
How We Did It

34. Our research team
• Seren – leaders in customer experience & service design
• NeuroStrata – expert consultants in blending neuromarketing
applications
• Neurosense – global leader in implicit methodologies
Slide 34
@tameverts

35. The brands we tested
Slide 35

36. Our test participants
• 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
Slide 36

37. Jakob Nielsen, Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users, 2000
Slide 37
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38. 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
Slide 38
@tameverts

39. Slide 39

40. Slide 40
Why test a 500ms delay?
Case study: The impact of HTML delay on mobile business metrics
@tameverts

41. Slide 41
We focused on the metrics most affected by the 500ms delay:
Emotional engagement
Frustration

42. Slide 42

43. Normal speed
Slide 43
2.66s 2.92s 2.83s 4.24s

44. Frustration levels across sites (normal speed)
Slide 44
@tameverts

45. Engagement levels across sites (normal speed)
Slide 45
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46. 500ms delay: Peak frustration results
Slide 46
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47. 500ms delay: Average engagement results
Slide 47
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48. EEG test summary
• A mere 500ms delay results in significant increase in
frustration levels.
• Faster pages result in higher levels of engagement.
• Different sites trigger emotional shifts at different phases
of the experience (browsing vs. checkout).
• Important: These tests happened under ideal browsing
conditions.
Slide 48
@tameverts

49. Slide 49

50. Impact of site speed on post-test brand association
Slide 50
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51. If pages aren’t fast, everything suffers.
Content
“boring”
Visual design
“tacky” and “confusing”
Navigation
“frustrating” and “hard-to-navigate”
Slide 51
@tameverts

52. Slide 52
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53. Takeaways

54. 1 People feel “web stress” even when shopping under ideal
conditions.
2 Slower web performance has a clear and measurable
impact on people at a neurological level.
3 Slow sites can seriously undermine overall brand health.
4 The nature and scale of impact varies, depending on a
number of factors (e.g. inherent strength/weakness of
brand).
5 This presents great opportunities to strengthen overall
brand by investing in performance optimization.
Slide 54
@tameverts

55. Slide 55

56. http://www.radware.com/mobile-eeg2013/
Slide 56
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57. 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/
Slide 57

58. webperformancetoday.com
twitter.com/tameverts
linkedin.com/in/tammyeverts
plus.google.com/+TammyEverts/
Slide 58
Questions?