Published Jan 13, 2020
But First, Some Background on Heatmaps…
Heatmaps are defined as data represented in charts or diagrams in which the data values are signified by colors.
In market research, heatmaps paint clear pictures of customer insights and preferences, specifically as they relate to concept images, and text.
Survey respondents are often asked to view a product and identify what they like, don’t like or find confusing. They click on areas of test advertisements or packaging or marketing text that have appeal. More positive clicks intensify the colors to “hot” red or orange. The “cooler” areas, characterized by blues, greens and yellows, are less popular with respondents.
Heatmaps put research results in visually appealing, easily understood formats.
Heatmap Reporting… Easy to Visualize, Easy to Apply Insights
Based on the heatmap image above, survey respondents had positive reactions to the image and/or text featured in the center of the test package. Their connections to the outer edges were not as strong or, more likely, they just noticed less.
Applying Heatmaps to New Product Development and Concept Testing
Here is what happens behind the scenes on a heatmap survey questions:
The uploaded image is divided into a set of predefined areas within a 10×10 grid overlay. Each area represents an answer option and can be clicked by a respondent so 100 cells = 100 answer options.
Respondent clicks are captured as positive answers and become images in the final report.
Heatmaps An Essential Component in your Marketing Research Toolkit
Heatmaps have been used for a long time by engineers and academics. Now, researchers can also benefit from these powerful visualizations. Adding a heatmap to a survey can improve comprehension of the final research report by replacing text with an image. It simplifies analysis as customer preferences are easy to see and understand. Actions for improvement are also highlighted — move or remove an image from a package, increase font size on an ad or reposition packaging text for greater visibility.
Heatmaps have been made easy in Toluna QuickSurveys. The heatmap widget will be available to all QuickSurvey users at AskToluna, AskTolunaPro and My Own Accounts setup wizard level. Click here to schedule a demo and learn how to get started.
Back to Blog