Which Is More Effective - Print or Online Coupons?

The results of the first research that examines consumer responses to coupons at the deep subconscious level of the brain were revealed by NeuroFocus, the world’s leading neuromarketing company. The findings carry significant implications for marketers as coupon use accelerates across many demographics.

NeuroFocus’ study analyzed consumers’ brainwave activity and combined those findings with eye tracking and galvanic skin response measurements to arrive at results that reveal how print and online coupons fared with regards to attention, emotionalengagement and memory retention. In addition, three additional Market Performance Indicator metrics measured purchaseintent, noveltyand awareness.

Online coupons have stronger appeal than print
The research shows that across the board, the online version of a coupon outperformed the print version, by wide margins in almost every one of the neurometrics categories. Only in Memory Retention were the two coupon types close, and even there the online version still held an advantage.

NeuroFocus Key NeuroMetrics:
(Ranked on a 0-10 scale, where a difference of +/- 0.2 is significant)

NeuroFocus combined the Key NeuroMetrics figures to develop an overall Neurological Effectiveness score, and the online coupon beat the print version by a large differential:

NeuroFocus Market Performance Indicator Scores:
(Ranked on a 0-10 scale, where a difference of +/- 0.2 is significant)

Online coupons correspond more strongly with “savings”
NeuroFocus tested for consumers’ subconscious responses to two key coupon-related messaging concepts— “convenient” and “savings” using a rankings scale of High/Strong/Moderate/Mild/Low/None). The brainwaves and biometrics test results scored print and online coupons as even in the “convenient” category with a mild ranking. But the “savings” category showed online coupons gaining another major advantage:

Reversing the results for print to prevail
NeuroFocus’ research revealed a potentially powerful avenue for print coupons to overtake the online alternative, however. The company created a new “branded element” and added it to both print and online coupons, to determine if the addition would have any effect on consumers’ subconscious responses. The results were striking.

When this new branded element—which NeuroFocus is keeping proprietary for competitive reasons—was included in both versions, the overall Effectiveness score was virtually reversed. With this new element, consumers preferred the print coupon over the online version by almost the same margin that the earlier test had produced for online over print:

This new branded element also produced the highest scores of all in several individual categories, including the critically important Memory Retention, Purchase Intent, and Novelty sectors.

“Our research gives companies the first clear understanding of how consumers respond to coupons where it really counts: deep inside their subconscious minds,” said Dr. A. K. Pradeep, Chief Executive Officer of NeuroFocus. “Neuroscience has proven that that is the level where product interest, purchase intent, and brand loyalty are really formed.”

“The fundamental difference between this research and others is that measuring brainwave responses results in factual findings, not interpretations of what consumers say they think or feel about coupons, “ Dr. Pradeep said. “As our Chief Science Advisor Dr. Robert Knight, one of the world’s preeminent neuroscientists, explains, ‘the brain makes behavior.’ With these results, companies now know the critical differences in subconscious responses across the categories that determine behavior, so they can make the most fully-informed strategic marketing decisions when it comes to couponing.”

Definitions:
Key NeuroMetrics:
Attention: the degree of cognitive interest
Emotional Engagement: the degree of affective response
Memory Retention: The degree of memory encoding and learning involved

Market Performance Indicators:
Purchase Intent: The degree to which purchase/viewing intent has been formed
Awareness: The degree of messaging comprehension and understanding
Novelty: The ability to stand out in the clutter; and form defenses against competitive messages