The human body holds a wealth of hidden information. An individual’s identity can be confirmed by simple fingerprinting or iris scanning. Human emotions can be measured (indirectly) by heart rate, galvanic skin response, movement, and respiration rate. While traditional polygraph tests are no longer considered reliable for detecting lies, newer research indicates that voice stress detection could be used to reveal deception. Historically, these indicators have been used by governments and corporations for security purposes, but increasingly they’re being adopted not only by companies looking to understand consumer behavior, but by consumers themselves. Let’s take a look at the current and future uses of biometrics on and by consumers.
Biometrics and Consumer Behavior
Self-reported emotional responses are notoriously inaccurate, so marketers eager to discover true consumer sentiment have turned to biometric measurement to identify subconscious indicators. Early attempts used EEGs and fMRIs, but these techniques are expensive and cannot be easily used in a natural setting. Modern consumer biometrics are portable, so researchers are able to measure people’s heart rate, skin conductance, motion, and breathing while in stores, central locations, or at home.
While these measurements are precise, their meaning is not. Extrapolating emotions from biometric responses requires considerable interpretation, and is therefore subject to erroneous conclusions. However, there are several research pioneers in the space who have managed to make sense of story through the noise. Pairing emotional responses with eye tracking is a great way to tell exactly what a consumers was witnessing when his or her body reacted the way it did.
A newer technique called “facial coding” is a much more reliable way to identify consumer emotional response, and we’ll discuss it in depth in a future post.
Consumer Use of Biometrics
Modern technology has brought a huge increase in identity theft—it’s the number-one consumer complaint to the Federal Trade Commission, with 160,000 complaints in 2014 (up from 100,000 in 2013). To combat security breaches and protect consumers, newer mobile devices are incorporating biometric technology. A major feature of the iPhone 6 is Touch ID, which allows users to unlock the phone, buy items in the Apple Store, and use Apple Pay all with a matched fingerprint. The Samsung Galaxy S5 also uses fingerprint identification for unlocking, PayPal payments, and purchasing Google Play content.
Another major use of consumer biometric data is health: exercise, calorie tracking, and weight loss. Business Insider estimates that the wearables sector will grow at a compound annual rate of 35 percent to reach 148 million units in 2019 (up from 33 million now). Wearable devices such as wrist-wrapping FitBits measure movement to gauge physical activity and sleep patterns. They also track heart rate to measure calories burned and optimize health. The new Apple Watch measures movement to give users a snapshot of their daily activity and encourage exercise.
The Future
Use of biometric data is set to explode in the near future. ABI Research predicts that the biometrics market will grow to $26.8 billion in 2020, driven by an increase in consumer and enterprise sectors. Data that was once reserved for maintaining government and corporate security has found life and new applications by those studying consumers and by consumers themselves. While the data generated by biometrics needs to be carefully interpreted, it is clearly generating lots of new interest.
Tags: Consumer BehaviorDecision MakingEye TrackingShopper ResearchTrends