Consumer Psych

Consumer Psychology sits at the intersection of psychology, business, and marketing. It addresses issues like decision-making, choice, and branding from the perspective of psychology and cognitive neuroscience and applies insights to consumer issues. If you want ads that are more effective or packages that resonate with your consumers, you have come to the right place.

Over the past 15 years, Dr. James Intriligator has built several degree programs around this emerging field — along with a history of successful research and commercial projects that incorporate consumer psychology.

Intriligator’s research has explored:

• How digital signs in stores and workplaces impact consumer and worker behavior.  For example, his studies have shown that morality-related content on these signs can make people behave more honestly.
• How and why consumers seem to trust some websites more than others.  For example, his work has shown that photos of smiling men make people immediately distrust a website.
• How advertisements on websites and in search-engine results pages affect users.  For example, he has shown that the “match-up” between website content and pop-up content is critical in making ads more effective.
• How people interact with a range of products:  from chocolate bars, to wine bottles, to bank notes.
• How the brain responds to different “special offers” (2-for-1, half-off, 3-for-2, etc).
• How atmospherics influence beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.

Specific Research Projects:

Digital Sign Networks

Working with one of the UK’s leading DSN providers, Pixel Inspirations, Intriligator led several research studies about how DSNs can be used strategically in both the marketplace and the workplace.

In the marketplace they can help advertise products explicitly or implicitly prime people to consider products. In the workplace we have demonstrated their effectiveness at making workers happier, more loyal, and we have been able to nudge people to do things like spend less time on Facebook or spend more time working in teams.

Packaging (WRAP)

Working with brand owners from luxury, seasonal and gifting categories (Easter eggs, Christmas chocolates, and whiskey bottles), this project demonstrated that packaging reductions can be achieved while still retaining the relevant psychological perceptions that brand owners value. Additionally, the project demonstrates the potential value of several new methods of consumer testing.

• Download the case report.

Brains and Decision-Making

Working with SBXL and numerous global brands Intriligator has been able to uncover some of the neural circuitry involved in decision-making and choosing good/bad “special offers” (e.g. 2-for-1, half-off, etc).  Find out more:

• Ground-Breaking project to brain-scan shoppers
• Bangor University study shows shoppers are not great at bagging a bargain

In-store advertising

With other researchers, Intriligator has conducted numerous research projects for brands such as Mars and Cadbury to better understand effective methods of in-store advertising.

Our recommendations have changed how companies do their in-store advertising, and we have been able to drastically increase the effectiveness of their marketing.  And, we have been able to help them target their strategic marketing spend to deliver far greater returns on investment.

Packaging Research

Numerous projects have examined how to make packaging more effective, more environmentally friendly, and better branded.

Website Research

We have investigated many ways of influencing the user-experience on websites.  From creating brand images, to making people trust websites more, to nudging people to “share” and “like” content, we have conducted numerous studies both in the lab and out in the real world.