Product Reviews App Shown to Reduce Stress

San Francisco — As part of an in-market test of its product reviews mobile application, software provider CNET dipped its toe into the field of biometrics. The company enlisted Atlanta-based Shopper Sciences to conduct shopalongs over a two-day period last November, using bracelet sensors to measure galvanic skin response (i.e., sweating) in order to determine how the mobile application impacted consumers' behavior as they shopped for electronics items.The results: Use of the CNET Reviews app led to a marked decrease in stress levels in the vast majority of cases. Support from the app, which allows users to call up online product reviews and comparative price information by scanning a UPC with their mobile phones, was found to lower stress markers more than other factors such as help from sales staff. Follow-up surveys with the participants confirmed the skin test results. For example, nearly 90% of the shoppers thought they made "smarter choices" because of the CNET app, and more than half said it was "highly likely" they would use the app the next time they shopped for electronics items."We've been studying the role of the mobile phone in the store environment, but this is the first time we've used biometrics to learn more about what people feel rather than what they say," says Mickey Wilson, chief marketing officer of CNET parent CBS Interactive, San Francisco. Shopper Sciences gathered a group of 60 tech-savvy consumers (both male and female, ranging from age 25 to 54) at a well-known electronics retailer in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Each participant was required to wear a bracelet attached with a small Affectiva sensor that measures fluctuations in skin temperature and moisture. The group was comprised of existing CNET subscribers who said they were inclined to use mobile apps while in a store and who were actively looking to purchase an electronics item (most were seeking TVs or digital cameras).In a total of 36 shopalongs, researchers collected notes on the participants' behaviors, citing the precise moment when the shoppers would approach an item, interact with a display, ask staff a question and so forth. The compiled results were set against a timeline of the skin recordings to produce a complete physiological log for each shopper during an average test period of 42 minutes."People become agitated when faced with making a purchase decision. Very small changes in the amount you sweat may indicate whether you're worried, anxious or excited," says Shopper Sciences CEO John Ross. "Our shoppers told us that time and money were the things they worried most about. The CNET application not only built confidence in the shopping process but also reduced the time it took shoppers to make up their mind about buying the item."In one representative log (see chart), a participant shopping for a digital camera was recorded to have a significant drop-off in electrodermal activity at the time he began using the CNET mobile app, while his body temperature remained steady. The skin measurement trend reversed as soon as he stopped using the app. His excitement continued to increase while he was waiting on help from a store employee, reaching a peak when he learned the item was out of stock. "Excitement can be either positive or negative," says Ross. "In this case, the sensors showed that something in his environment was causing stress. Our observations on the floor confirmed what those stresses were."The test results were somewhat surprising, he adds, in that using the mobile app does require the shopper to do extra work, which in itself could lead to more stress. Still, he notes, more than 90% of shoppers said they would recommend the product to a friend. "Many people even said they trusted the app more than the information they got from the sales associate," says Ross.CNET has been using the test results to modify the content of its application to better suit specific shopper needs.

Product Reviews App Shown to Reduce Stress

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