Brenda graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso where she majored in Mathematics and minored in Psychology. During her time in college, she learned about how different data analysis techniques are used and how they can come together to help us understand complex topics. While in school, Brenda became interested in studying human behavior and decision-making. This led her to seek out a position in marketing analytics where she could apply her academic background, gain more research experience, and explore a broad range of exciting projects. At HCD Research, the ideal blend of analytics and psychology allows Brenda to develop her data analysis skills and learn more about neuroscience, marketing, and consumer behavior. She is excited to be part of a team of knowledgeable analysts that are passionate about delivering high quality research to every client. Fun facts about Brenda: Outside of work, Brenda’s favorite activities include hiking, playing boardgames, or simply spending time with friends and family!

Sophia is a recent graduate from the University of Rochester, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. While studying at UR, she was involved in three different research labs. She studied the role attractiveness plays in romantic relationships, the impact of chronic pain on the waste clearance system of the brain, and how visuo-spatial memory can be enhanced through short naps and dream recall. Through her extensive academic research experience, Sophia gained knowledge about data collection, analysis, and reporting and found a passion in using data to tell a story. After taking a consumer behavior class, she learned about the field of neuromarketing and market research. This class helped Sophia gain an understanding of how she can apply her interests in data collection and reporting to study consumer behavior. These interests transferred seamlessly into her role at HCD Research as a Market Research Analyst. Fun facts from Sophia: She was captain of the varsity lacrosse team at University of Rochester and after graduating, took a break from lacrosse to explore hobbies like yoga and hiking. She recently moved to Boston and enjoys going to baseball games on the weekends. Go Sox!

Introduction On-demand delivery services, such as Uber or Instacart, are growing at an unprecedented speed and are expected to continue to grow larger in the years to come. These services allow consumers to purchase products or services by simply using the designated app. A report from PwC (n.d.) estimated that the on-demand economy will expand, reaching and surpassing a whopping $330 billion globally by the year 2025. Additionally, there are now more than 22 million consumers in the U.S. alone, spending over $57 billion on on-demand services annually (Mobile App Daily, 2020). Fueled by the needs expedited by the pandemic, as well as consumers’ willingness to pay for these services, many companies are flocking into this space. From prepared food delivery (e.g. Grubhub, Uber Eats) to grocery delivery (e.g. Instacart, Walmart) to two-day delivery goods (e.g. Amazon), there is no lack of options for consumers to choose from that fulfill their needs, in-the-moment. Many on-demand delivery brands originally started their business in a specific category – for instance, food, grocery, or convenience store goods – with little overlap, staying in their own space. This, however, is no longer the case. In recent years, the popular on-demand delivery brands have been venturing outside of their primary offering category. For example, besides their ride-sharing service, Uber now offers their own on-demand delivery service for groceries through UberEats, in addition to takeout delivery services. Expanding company deliverables, like UberEats going from restaurant-only meals to non-prepared food delivery, is a good way to soft launch ideas to gain consumer feedback. But how far can on-demand delivery service companies like Uber or Amazon stretch their on-demand services? How far outside of their lane can on-demand delivery service companies reach before they lose consumer trust and acceptance? And how can companies best strategize launching new services on their platform while maintaining true to their brand? This study aims to investigate what types of on-demand delivery services consumers are interested in as well as their brand perceptions on current on-demand delivery companies. These learnings reveal potential areas for growth in this space, while addressing need-gaps that are authentic to growing the brand harmoniously. The Study Leveraging HCD Research’s MaxImplicit tool, we recruited a total of 200 participants for a survey. In late-March 2022, participants were asked to rank what features are most important when it comes to using on-demand delivery services via the MaxDiff (or Best-Worst) scaling. The MaxDiff method reveals participants’ relative preferences. In the second part of the study, we measured participants’ implicit reactions among five popular, on-demand delivery service brands (e.g. Amazon, Uber, Walmart, Lyft, and Instacart) with a list of 15 attributes (e.g. convenient, timesaving, caring, etc.) using the Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT). As a method that combines MaxDiff and IAT, MaxImplicit is excellent in revealing the gaps between consumers' needs and their perceptions of on-demand delivery service brands. Types of Shoppers Participants for this study were classified into three groups based on how frequently they use on-demand delivery services– Occasional shoppers, Frequent shoppers, and Heavy shoppers. Occasional shoppers are people who hardly ever use the service, Frequent shoppers are people who use it on a monthly basis, and Heavy shoppers are people who use it on a weekly to daily basis. MaxDiff Results Top-Ranked Needs The MaxDiff results above revealed that the top five most important needs for consumers are Trustworthy, Good Value, Efficient, Convenience, and No Added Fees. These five items are considered the baseline needs for consumers when it comes to using on-demand delivery services and are perceived to have immediate benefits. This implies that consumers often come to on-demand delivery services with specific goals in mind, including spending the least amount of time and effort on getting what they need. Previous research argued that “recency effect” has influences on consumers and suggested that a positive experience is more powerful and can change the perceptions of a negative one (Ha and Perks, 2005). This suggests that a good experience is important in determining consumer’s satisfaction, thus making it easy for companies to build consumer relationships (Buchanan and Gillies, 1990). Consumers favor brands they have used, especially those they have had good experiences because they trust them to fulfill their needs. Lastly, the research suggests transparency in the pricing scheme also increases the chances consumers revisit the platform, as they are already aware of any additional fees in the final price. When comparing the three types of shoppers, we can see that occasional shoppers ranked these five top-ranked needs higher than the other two groups of shoppers. This implies that occasional shoppers, though they might not use the service as much, note these five aspects are the utmost considerations when they need to use the service. Bottom-Ranked Needs In contrast to the top-ranked needs, the bottom-ranked needs are Contactless, Caring, Inclusive, For Me, and Exclusive. These five needs can be considered as additional features, which are features that could set on-demand delivery companies apart from their competitors after the baseline needs are fulfilled. As previously mentioned, consumers use on-demand delivery services when they need something in a short amount of time with the least amount of effort. They are less likely to care how it will be delivered, whether it is contactless or not, as long as their order will be delivered, ideally fast and reliably. Consumers often come to the on-demand delivery service knowing what they want without the intention of shopping around. Therefore, knowing whether or not the product/service is from a minority-owned business or personalized seems to be secondary. Similarly, consumers tend to use these services for personal use, so gifting is not something focused on for on-demand delivery services. Thus, it is not hard to see that using these services to send gifts may lack a personal touch. Lastly, unless there are compelling reasons for a membership (like Costco Gasoline or two-day delivery of Amazon Prime), it is understandable that consumers would avoid memberships, while still having access to deals and discounts. When comparing the bottom-ranked needs across the shopper groups, we can see, as shown by the yellow arrow on the graph, that heavy shoppers on average ranked these items higher than the other two groups. This indicates that heavy shoppers are more likely to be interested in these additional features (i.e. supporting minority-owned businesses, personalized recommendations, etc.) after their top priorities are fulfilled. IAT Results The figure above shows the summary of the IAT results in relation to the MaxDiff findings. Each attribute is categorized into high, medium, or low association based on how fast participants respond when a word pops up under each brand. The words in green represent the top five needs from MaxDiff, whereas the words in red represent the bottom five needs. By mapping both IAT and MaxDiff findings together, we can see that participants have high associations with words that are ranked as top needs in MaxDiff. The opposite case is also true, in which participants have low associations with words that are ranked as low in priorities in MaxDiff. This shows how consumers value baseline needs of these services. Companies capable of fulfilling these needs are important to the consumer and, therefore, suggests companies should invest in these resources to ensure the services they provide are satisfactory. From Figure 3, Amazon, Walmart, and Instacart have high and medium association with IAT words tested, with many of the words also being top-ranked needs from MaxDiff. In contrast, participants show low associations with many of the IAT words to Uber and Lyft. This indicates that consumers believe the two companies are not fulfilling their baseline needs. It would be beneficial for Uber and Lyft to further investigate the possible reasons behind this result to improve their brand image and interest in expansion in the market. Consumer Clustering via Social Network Analysis To see shoppers' relationships to one another, their responses were plotted (as seen in Figure 4) using social network analysis (SNA). This is a two-mode network, which connects each shopper to the types of services they use based on how frequently they use each service. The red color dots represent the types of services (grocery, ride-sharing, etc.), and the blue, green, and orange color dots are the different types of shoppers. The advantage of using SNA is that it focuses on ties, which is a form of relationship that we can define in any way we want – in this case, the tie is the type of on-demand services participants use. By using SNA, we can visualize the most popular types of on-demand delivery services and where each type of shopper is positioned in the graph in relation to one another. This output can help target different types of shoppers more easily. The relational position of each shopper is determined by the combination of the amount of services they use, how popular the types of services they use, and the frequency of use of the specific service. Shoppers who use services that are popular (aka many others in the sample also use it) will be positioned relatively closer to the center of the graph. For example, shoppers who use on-demand delivery services for groceries or food/beverages will be positioned closer to the center in the graph. Figure 5. Implicit Association Test Results (Left- Frequent Shoppers, Center- Occasional Shoppers, Right- Heavy Shoppers; Click image to expand.) Figure 5 illustrates that heavy shoppers (5a) are concentrated in the center of the graph because they use different types of services regularly. They not only value the baseline needs of using on-demand delivery services, but they are also more open to trying new services than the other two groups of shoppers. Therefore, brands that are looking to bring new products or services to their platform should consider targeting this group of shoppers first. In terms of frequent shoppers (5b), they are spread out across the graph, some using many services often, while others only stick to a few that they are familiar with. This corroborates with how they ranked most MaxDiff items in between the other two groups of shoppers. There is an opportunity within frequent shoppers to encourage exploration. Brands should allocate marketing resources to understand who in this group is interested in trying out new services, so the company can be better positioned to address their interests. Lastly, occasional shoppers (5c) are located at the bottom of the graph, showing that they don’t use services as frequently and tend to stick to one type of service. Recalling that occasional shoppers value the baseline needs more than the other two groups of shoppers, we can tell that they use these services with a specific goal in mind. So, to keep the retention rate of occasional shoppers, brands could look into how well they are doing in fulfilling the baseline needs compared to their direct competitors. Conclusion In summary, we can see that occasional shoppers tend to know what they need when it comes to using on-demand delivery services. They are also less likely to try out new types of services without seeing how they would benefit them. In other words, they value the immediate benefits more than other features of on-demand delivery services. Frequent shoppers, on the other hand, tend to value the efficiency of on-demand delivery services. They also have a relatively higher trust in the five brands than the other two groups of shoppers. Frequent shoppers ranked most measures neither high nor low, so there may be an opportunity to persuade them to try out new services. Lastly, heavy shoppers are more adventurous and willing to try a variety of services. They are more receptive to additional features that give them a purpose – such as supporting minority-owned businesses. They also seek out a more personalized experience than occasional and frequent shoppers. Overall, this study revealed that the trustworthiness of a brand matters to consumers when it comes to using on-demand delivery services. However, participants have no high associations with the five tested brands in terms of their trustworthiness. Therefore, companies should focus on increasing their trustworthiness to consumers. In addition, these brands should also investigate what their strengths are and explore those features. The survey results show that participants did not have high associations with any attributes towards Uber and Lyft, and this presents a challenge for the two companies in bringing new services into a new space. For example, consumers do not find Uber trustworthy when it comes to their ride-sharing service, and in turn also think UberEats is not trustworthy. Thus, Uber and Lyft should focus on researching what consumers associated them with before launching to market. The MaxImplicit methodology has provided an interesting insight into areas that would be beneficial for companies to dive deeper into to differentiate what types of shoppers they are targeting and guide decision-makers to allocate resources accordingly. Reference Aparna (2021). “How 'on-Demand Economy' Is Impacting Business World 2021?” MobileAppAaily, MobileAppDaily, 11 Nov. 2020, https://www.mobileappdaily.com/on-demand-changing-business. Art Figures retrieved from Slidesgo. www.slidesgo.com Consumer intelligence series: The sharing economy - PWC. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://www.pwc.se/sv/pdf-reports/consumer-intelligence-series-the-sharing-economy.pdf HCD Research. (n.d.). MaxImplicit [White paper] Ha, & Perks, H. (2005). Effects of consumer perceptions of brand experience on the web: brand familiarity, satisfaction and brand trust. Journal of Consumer Behaviour., 4(6), 438–452. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.29 Niedziela, M (2021). Consumer clustering, COVID-19, concerts & more. HCD Research Inc. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://www.hcdi.net/post/consumer-clustering-covid-19-concerts-more

Across North America, springtime has pushed the chill out of the air and brought vibrant greens back to the fields and trees. As we inch toward summer and the days grow longer and warmer, the frequent precipitation experienced by most of the continent through April has successfully induced the colorful buds of soon-to-be blossoming flowers. However, not all flowers require the same level of anticipation. The cannabis plant – its flower, or bud as it’s colloquially known – is available year-round. While experienced cannabis consumers may be familiar with all the parts of the plant and their uses, to inexperienced users or just those who are curious to learn more about the plant, the terminology associated with the cannabis plant can be overwhelming and intimidating. Here we provide a short, reader-friendly primer on the key parts of the cannabis plant that may help overcome the barrier to category entry that plant nomenclature may pose. Let’s Talk About Sex While it’s not vital for the consumer to have a deep knowledge of botany, it is useful to have an awareness of some key points about cannabis plants. A particularly important fact about cannabis is that it is a dioecious plant, which means there are both males and females of the species. Quite literally, dioecious means “double house” and indicates the male and female parts are located separately, each on its own plant. Generally, the male plants produce pollen, which fertilize female plants to produce seeds. To further complicate the situation, it is also possible for the cannabis plants to be a hermaphrodite, where both male and female parts occur on the same plant, allowing it to self-pollinate and produce its own seeds. Luckily for the consumer, only unfertilized female plants produce cannabinoid-rich flowers that make it to market, so the complexities of sexing plants are left to the experts. Some key structural features help identify female cannabis plants compared to male cannabis plants, including: Females develop flowers at their nodes later than males. Female flowers develop from their thin, pear-shaped bracts that have fine hairs coming from them; male flowers, or pollen sacs, start as small, ball-shaped outcropping that do not have hairs. Female flowers are fertilized when their stigma catches pollen released from the males’ pollen sacs. Females are shorter in overall stature. Females have thinner stems with more branches and leaves – they are bushier. Plant Parts – From Roots Through Buds Cannabis plants, like all plants, are biochemical factories that turn sunlight into energy and produce oxygen. Cannabis plants are unique in that they produce a much sought-after group of phytochemicals - cannabinoids. To fully understand the value of the cannabis plant, it helps to break down the anatomy and learn more about how each component plays a role in what the plant produces. Let’s start from the ground up… Roots Roots are the absolute foundation of the cannabis plant. The roots anchor the plant, provide stability to the plant as it grows, bring water and nutrients into the plant, and store starches and sugars produced via photosynthesis. Interestingly, cannabis plant roots have recently received renewed interest, as research suggests that they do not contain significant levels of cannabinoids or other phytocannabinoids, but they do contain a number of active compounds with potential medical benefits. Stem or Stalk The stem, sometimes called the stalk, is the above-ground nutrient and water super-highway which provides the ultrastructure for the rest of the plant’s components. Nodes, which occur at specific outcroppings along the length of the stem, give rise to leaves and branches. Nodes & Branches Nodes are a true hot spot of activity on the cannabis plant. Branches, leaves, and flowers all grow from the nodes. It’s at the nodes that a plant’s hormones are produced and where their sex apparatus grows. Branches and the leaves help the process of photosynthesis by transforming the light energy of the sun into sugars and other nutrients the plant needs to thrive through its lifecycle. Fan Leaves The fan leaves of the cannabis plant are broad-based leaves with five, seven, nine, or more finger-like projections, known as leaflets, that have serrated edges. The fan leaves are arguably the most important leaves on the plant as they help the plant breathe through transpiration and capture energy via sunlight to provide the plant energy for all its functions. While fan leaves do not typically make their way into products or for sale in-market, they are finding popularity as a food and beverage additive in their raw form, where it also appears to have potential as a beneficial nutritional supplement. Sugar Leaves Sugar leaves have serrated edges like fan leaves, but they are small and seem to grow directly out of flowers rather than out of distinct nodes on the stem like fan leaves. Sugar leaves get their name from their appearance, as they are often covered in white crystalline structures called trichomes. Whether, and the extent to which, sugar leaves house trichomes depends on the genetics of the particular cannabis plant. Flowers or Buds Flowers, sometimes called buds, are the pièce de resistance of the cannabis plant and, as noted above, are only developed in female plants. Female plants have bracts, which are small, tear-shaped leaves covered with resin glands that encapsulate the reproductive parts of the plant and contain the highest concentrations of cannabinoids and terpenes. Additionally, the calyx cells, which are not clearly visible to the naked eye, occur in a translucent layer at the flower’s base and are its main THC production site. Flowers themselves have two main parts – the stigma and pistil – and, most importantly, form colas and produce trichomes, the buds and phytochemical production sites, respectively, which are explored further below. Pistil & Stigma Pistils are the cannabis flower’s reproductive parts, housing the ovule or prospective seed, and contain a pair of protruding stigma, which are hair-like strands that extend out from the flower. The main purpose of the stigmas is to catch pollen when it’s released by nearby male plants. Over the course of the cannabis plant’s maturation, the stigmas' coloring begins as off-white and progresses to yellow, orange, red, and finally, brown. Red to dark red hairs on a cannabis plant’s flowers are typically indicative that it is ready for harvest. Cola The cola is where flowers aggregate and bunch up into a larger bud, which is sometimes also called a nugget or nug. The main cola is the largest of these flower aggregates and typically occurs at the very top of the cannabis plant’s stem; thus, this main cola is also called the apical bud. The colas are home to the cannabinoid- and terpene-rich parts of the plant, and thus are its most highly valued part. As such, growers have developed plant training methods that result in multiple cola forming per plant to maximize yield per plant. Trichomes Trichomes are the tiny powerhouses of the cannabis plant. Clear, sticky, mushroom-shaped glands, trichomes form in a thick layer on flowers, which provide protection from insects and UV light. These delicate little machines produce and store the most consumer-relevant parts of the flower, including cannabinoids, like THC and CBD, terpenes, like pinene and caryophyllene, and flavonoids, which are phytocompounds that contribute to the smell, taste, and colour of the resulting processed flower as well as other products.trichomes form in a thick layer on flowers, which provide protection from insects and UV light. These delicate little machines produce and store the most consumer-relevant parts of the flower, including cannabinoids, like THC and CBD, terpenes, like pinene and caryophyllene, and flavonoids, which are phytocompounds that contribute to the smell, taste, and colour of the resulting processed flower as well as other products. Let’s Keep Growing Here we’ve summarized some key structural parts of the cannabis plant, identified areas that produce and store phytochemicals like cannabinoids and terpenes, and highlighted the main differences between male and female cannabis plants and their method of reproduction. Understanding the basics of the cannabis plant can help any consumer, company, or researcher make decisions surrounding cannabis with more confidence. Key Takeaways Cannabis plants are dioecious and imperfect; both male and female plants are needed for female flowers to go to seed. Unfertilized female (or feminized) cannabis plants produce the flowers from which practically all cannabis-containing products are derived. Other parts of the plant, besides the flower, are finding use in foods, beverages, and other preparations. Trichomes are magical, miniature machines that produce and store all of the key compounds associated with cannabis – cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids – and they literally put the sticky in your sticky-icky. If you are interested in learning more about how HCD Research can help you explore the world of cannabinoids, please contact Allison Gutkowski at Allison.Gutkowski@hcdi.net. References 1. Bostarr M. The Ultimate Guide to Cannabis Plant Anatomy. SPARC. Published August 12, 2020. Accessed May 26, 2022. https://sparc.co/cannabis-plant-anatomy/ 2. Monoecious vs. Dioecious. Orbis Environmental Consulting. Accessed May 27, 2022. https://orbisec.com/monoecious-vs-dioecious/ 3. Botanical Terminology: Flowers, Houses and Sexual Reproduction. Accessed May 27, 2022. https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/2009/2-4/monoecious.html 4. Female and Male Marijuana Plants. Marijuana Seed Banks. Published December 8, 2016. Accessed May 28, 2022. https://marijuanaseedbanks.com/female-and-male-marijuana-plants/ 5. The Cannabis Plant Anatomy. Royal Queen Seeds. Accessed May 26, 2022. https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/content/151-the-cannabis-plant-anatomy 6. Bostarr M. The Ultimate Guide to Cannabis Plant Anatomy. SPARC. Published August 12, 2020. Accessed May 27, 2022. https://sparc.co/cannabis-plant-anatomy/ 7. Evapotranspiration and the Water Cycle | U.S. Geological Survey. Accessed May 28, 2022. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/evapotranspiration-and-water-cycle 8. Ryz N, Remillard D, Russo E. Cannabis Roots: A Traditional Therapy with Future Potential for Treating Inflammation and Pain. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. Published online August 1, 2017. doi:10.1089/can.2017.0028 9. Levin J. Cannabis Plant Anatomy: The Ultimate Guide | A Pot for Pot. Published February 27, 2020. Accessed May 26, 2022. https://apotforpot.com/blogs/growing/cannabis-plant-anatomy/ 10. Cannabis Plants Anatomy: From Seeds To Buds | Fast Buds. Accessed May 26, 2022. https://2fast4buds.com/news/cannabis-plants-anatomy-from-seeds-to-buds 11. Anatomy of the Cannabis Plant. Accessed May 26, 2022. https://www.muvfl.com/post/cannabis-anatomy 12. 5 Great Ways to Use Cannabis Trim & Get Value From It. GAIACA. Published February 23, 2021. Accessed May 27, 2022. https://www.gaiaca.com/what-to-do-with-cannabis-trim/ 13. The Cannabis Female Flower | O’Shaughnessy’s. Accessed June 2, 2022. https://beyondthc.com/the-cannabis-female-flower/ 14. I Love Growing Marijuana. Published February 27, 2022. Accessed May 26, 2022. https://www.ilovegrowingmarijuana.com/growing/marijuana-plant-anatomy/ 15. What Are Trichomes And Their Importance | Fast Buds. Accessed May 28, 2022. https://2fast4buds.com/news/what-are-trichomes-and-their-importance

SIMPLICIT … combining emotional scaling with timed reaction tests to show how perceptions and affective responses predict consumer decisions. SIMPLICIT was born by marrying our SAM and implicit methods, recognizing the simplicity yet elegance of merging two methodologies for a more complete evaluation of a consumer experience. As researchers, we often look to package our tools together for a more rich, robust outcome. Capturing the appropriate batteries of questions for your participant is critical, but how can we appropriately complement specific tools to uncover a niche finding or a unique perspective? You can’t just force two means to be together. Consider how many arranged/forced marriages truly last (via a quick google search, roughly 6%, yikes)? This can fall very true on pairing methods if they truly don’t complement or enhance one another. Implicit testing detects the strength of automatic associations (IAT Whitepaper) between words and stimuli, via a timed reaction test, and can help reveal perceptions of brands, concepts, and product experiences. The Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) (Simplicit Whitepaper) identifies the intensity of the different underlying dimensions of pleasure, arousal and dominance measured in a non-verbal, pictorial assessment. The three dimensions map out a participant’s response to a product without concerns regarding language barrier. Combining these two methods allows us to leverage both marketing language as well as the non-verbal affective response, giving us an easy-to-implement, multi-dimensional understanding of the consumer’s emotional experience. This methodology can be used on a wide range of stimuli to help differentiate and improve brand health- including ensuring our favorite, brand harmony (Brand Harmony Whitepaper). It can also uncover innovation and communication opportunities through identifying white space mood spaces which may be important to the overall consumer and brand experience.

A major part of differentiating a company involves developing its identity and personality. In order to accomplish this, companies must take a look at who their consumers are and what the company is selling to ensure the product meets the promise. Understanding the synergistic perceptions of a brand or concept in addition to a product experience can lead to better business decision making for both product design and messaging. A mismatch between the product experience and brand expectations can lead to challenges in product acceptability, liking, and ultimately a high failure rate of new market introductions. To avoid a mismatch, companies must strive to have brand harmony in every aspect of the product pipeline. Active communication is necessary in every part of the product pipeline from product ideation all the way to marketing and sales. Having strong alignment within the organization builds a cohesive message that speaks to consumers and is reinforced throughout the entire product experience. Recognizing the need to discuss the strategies and implications of brand harmony, our VP of Research and Innovation, Michelle Niedziela PhD, sat down with Stacie Miller PhD, William Childs, Yuliya Strizhakova PhD, Christoph Kndusen, and Linda Flammer PhD in our latest addition to the HCD webinar series. We pulled some highlights of this conversation (including, but not limited to, how to address siloed work environments, ways to collaborate cross-functionally, and the importance of authenticity in order to achieve brand harmony) which are detailed below. The Unintended Clash Even during the introductions about being on either the brand or product development team, Linda Flammer PhD emphasized the value in breaking down silos. By operating entirely independently, the success criteria may differ and cause the messaging to convey a different sentiment than what the product was developed to achieve. She also sympathizes with both teams when trying to develop methods to predict market success because “most of the methods are not good.” Listen to Linda share one of her experiences where communication between marketing and R&D led to some struggles in a new line extension. Stacie Miller PhD also recalled her past experiences where R&D had a hand-off to marketing, but all of the insights gleaned were from unbranded. This research still had valuable insights, but the findings can’t be assumed to remain consistent if repeated with branding. This furthers the need to discuss expectation matching not only for the consumer but for the various teams on the project as well. By communicating objectives and priorities upfront, everyone will have a better understanding about anticipated outcomes, thus guiding organizations to innovate and design accordingly. Stacie refers to this strategy as “having an anchor of expectations.” Finding the team spirit- Can we break down the silos? Recognizing a clear need for change, Yuliya Strizhakova PhD addresses how the messaging and product experience must have a unified vision. Yuliya calls out, “…fragmented media, with social media like TikTok, have people taking on a brand or taking a product, but if you have a consistent vision and message, it’s much harder to break.” Linda adds how companies thrive when stakeholders in the organization team up around the product premise, which encourages psychological safety since the group wins or fails together. Stacie also brings up how important empathy within a team is to ensure constructive honesty. Christoph Knudsen furthers this notion by mentioning how teams must find a common ground, such as the emotional component, to test from both marketing and product development to reach brand harmony. When it comes to finding a common ground, Will Childs gives an excellent example about how companies need to reflect on exactly what they are selling. “If I asked you what Harley-Davidson sold, and you told me motorcycles, I would say you’re wrong- they sell freedom. It’s a much bigger construct than just a bunch of parts that fit together with two wheels.” How to know the company identity Consumer feedback is necessary not only about the product itself but about the overall experience. Stacie contributes an interesting point about how the business strategy needs to be at the interception of determining company perceptions. Setting up future objectives for the company guides the strategy to evaluate gaps in perception, which then builds a research question and subsequently the tools that will best serve it. A few tools were noted when trying to understand consumer perceptions. Nonverbal techniques, such as social listening and implicit measures, and more structured approaches, like focus groups, were mentioned for gaining useful feedback. But how do you catch problems prior to launch? A big distinction, Michelle mentions, is that you can’t measure what you don’t test. The panelists agree that multimethod inputs from both qual and quant are informative, but each tool comes with its own limitations. So it really goes back to making sure there is a strategy in place for responding to an outcome since the time and moment do play a major role in how an ad or a statement can grow. Keep it real Christoph highlights how authenticity is a driving force behind brand harmony since company identity and personality are tied to certain stances. Consumers will challenge companies if they speak out on issues without taking notable action. Building an identity involves developing its core values, and those values must be upheld for the company to emulate trustworthiness. The Future of Brand Harmony So what does the future hold? Here are some thoughts about key components needed for brand harmony: · The growth of search and voice: Be ready to answer questions about the brand that may be uncomfortable- consumers have access to companies like never before. · Align silos: Organizations need to be on the same page. Transparency is a requirement for success. · Consistency: There needs to be alignment within everything from the product to the brand to social issues. · Simplicity: Have a short answer to one crucial question- what experience are you providing to consumers that they will not get anywhere else? If you are interested in learning more about brand harmony, please watch the full webinar available on HCD’s YouTube page, or contact Allison Gutkowski at allison.gutkowski@hcdi.net for any other inquiries.

“Happy 4-20!!” This greeting can sometimes be heard ringing out around 4:20 in the afternoon, or more often, it can be heard on April 20th, or more likely still, on April 20th at 4:20pm. And odds are particularly high (pun intended!) that when heard, the phrase is accompanied by a skunky-sweet-herbal aroma wafting on the breeze. Depending where you are, or more precisely on the legality of cannabis in your jurisdiction, there may also be a dense cloud of patchouli (a woody, musky, earthy scented oil) or an incense aroma hanging in the air from attempts to mask the characteristic smell associated with cannabis. Almost universally, cannabis consumers know 4-20 to be synonymous with cannabis-friendly environments. Indeed, 4-20 has become deeply enshrined in the collective cannabis culture, and in 2003, it became forever legally associated with cannabis through California’s Senate Bill SB 420, which focused on medical cannabis. For both non-consumers and consumers alike, the formal codification of 4-20 happened in 2017 when the Oxford English Dictionary published an update to include 420, n. Marijuana; the action of smoking marijuana. Typically pronounced “four-twenty”, the digits can be found formatted as a time, a date, with or without hyphenation — whichever way it’s written, s’all good! Here, we use the 4-20 format as a subtle reminder of the pronunciation. It also helps give clarity to those cannabis users who twist up numbers (e.g., what Canadians call a “half-quarter” measure of cannabis is, by weight, a 1/8th ounce). Why 4-20? Over the decades 4-20 has been in use, various rationales attempt to explain why the order of these three numbers is synonymous with cannabis. Some of the more seemingly reasonable origins have to do with Bob Dylan’s song “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” and police codes for use in-progress, while the less credulous, especially considering the historic typification of cannabis users as passive and non-violent, suggest theories like Hitler’s birthday is the origin. The current widely accepted origin of 4-20 is that in the early 1970s a group of teenage friends (who called themselves the Waldos) at San Rafael High School in Marin County, California started using 4-20 as their intra-group code to communicate the time they would meet (i.e., 4:20pm, conveniently after school and extracurriculars but before parents came home) to smoke cannabis. 4-20 today 4-20 has evolved over the years to mean many things to many people; from a day held sacred in protest of cannabis prohibition to a celebration of the plant and its people, 4-20 has become the internationally accepted holiday of cannabis consumption. From coast to coast and around the globe, 4-20 festivities of every flavor can be found, from massive gatherings of hundreds of thousands of cannabis enthusiasts and canna-curious onlookers to small-serviced sessions with select friends. It was suggested that 4-20 would be of significantly less importance to consumers once legalization for all uses (i.e., recreational and medical) was implemented in Canada in 2018, but it continues still to be a very big deal to Canadians. Even the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t stopped 4-20. With the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 came virtual 4-20 celebrations, which were welcomed by consumers. So what? Evidence supporting the strength of association between 4-20 and cannabis consumption comes from surveys of consumers’ self-reported awareness, which indicates that the majority (55%) of Canadians in 2022, and over 75% of those aged 18-34, are aware of 4-20. Additionally, market data indicates that, even during lockdown, spending on cannabis increased 50% on 4-20. Drilling down into consumer and retail data from previous years, predictions for this coming 4-20 are promising soaring sales and satisfied celebrants through product variety and deep discounts. While the majority of cannabis consumers are usually men,16,17 across all generations on 4-20, women increase purchasing more than men. Given the dynamic environment of the cannabis product landscape, the cannabis consumer profile is very rapidly evolving and growing. New and canna-curious consumers may not yet have a preferred or established product format or brand, while existing and heavy users may never stray from their preferred products. Understanding all types of cannabis consumers, how they think about 4-20 and their own consumption preferences and habits, can help establish brand trust and, ultimately, brand loyalty. If you are interested in learning more about how HCD Research can help you explore the wellness space (including cannabinoids), please contact Allison Gutkowski at Allison.Gutkowski@hcdi.net. References 1. Nguyen A, Nguyen L, Nguyen D, Le U, Trần T. “420 Friendly”: Revealing Marijuana Use via Craigslist Rental Ads.; 2017. 2. SB 420, California - Medical Marijuana - ProCon.org. Medical Marijuana. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/background-resources/sb-420-california/ 3. 420, n. In: OED Online. Oxford University Press. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/54543884 4. Urban Dictionary: half quarter. Urban Dictionary. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=half%20quarter 5. Here’s the Real Reason We Associate 420 With Weed. Time. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://time.com/4292844/420-april-20-marijuana-pot-holiday-history/ 6. Parlia. Adolf Hitler’s birthday - Parlia. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://www.parlia.com/a/adolf-hitlers-birthday 7. A Big Mystery Involving The Origin Of 4/20 Has Finally Been Solved. HuffPost. Published April 20, 2016. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/420-origin-story_n_57167759e4b0060ccda48a22 8. Here’s Everything You Need To Know About Why We Celebrate Weed On 4/20. HuffPost. Published April 20, 2015. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pot-day-420_n_7099706 9. CNN MH. How 4/20 became “Weed Day.” CNN. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/20/health/420-weed-day-origin-trnd/index.html 10. Lopez G. 4/20, the marijuana holiday, explained. Vox. Published April 19, 2019. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/19/18484698/what-is-420-meaning-marijuana-legalization 11. Matheson D. Clouded memories: The history of Vancouver’s 4/20 pot rally. British Columbia. Published April 19, 2016. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/clouded-memories-the-history-of-vancouver-s-4-20-pot-rally-1.2865932 12. A look at Canada’s first 4-20 celebrations since legalization - National | Globalnews.ca. Global News. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://globalnews.ca/news/5186818/4-20-celebrations-across-canada/ 13. 10 virtual 4/20 parties from online concerts to workshops to celebrate the marijuana holiday. The Denver Post. Published April 14, 2020. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://www.denverpost.com/2020/04/14/10-virtual-4-20-parties-from-online-concerts-to-workshops-to-celebrate-the-marijuana-holiday/ 14. Bloomberg BNN. Cannabis Canada Weekly: Retailers see 50% jump in 420 sales despite lockdowns - BNN Bloomberg. BNN. Published April 23, 2021. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/cannabis-canada-weekly-retailers-see-50-jump-in-420-sales-despite-lockdowns-1.1594546 15. Ltd TGODH. Highly Dutch Organic launches 420 Hotline. Accessed April 17, 2022. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/highly-dutch-organic-launches-420-hotline-829810426.html 16. Majority of Canadians (55%) Aware of 4/20 Celebrations for Cannabis Consumption. Ipsos. Accessed April 16, 2022. https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-polls/Majority-of-Canadians-55-percent-Aware-of-420-Celebrations-for-Cannabis-Consumption 17. Cannabis Sciences 2022. Labroots. Accessed April 17, 2022. https://www.labroots.com/virtual-event/cannabis-sciences-2022/agenda/wed-mar-23 18. Understanding the 4/20 cannabis holiday & consumer purchasing trends | Headset. Accessed April 17, 2022. https://www.headset.io/industry-reports/understanding-the-4-20-cannabis-holiday-consumer-purchasing-trends#form

In a recent ‘Frank Discussion on Consumer Cannabis Industry Challenges,’ our friend Darwin Millard (aka The Spock of Cannabis) of Final Bell and ASTM D37 described the recent widespread acceptance of cannabidiol (CBD), and specifically CBD from ‘hemp’, and continued vilification of cannabis and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as the ‘new’ Reefer Madness. Here we introduce HCD’s new blog series entitled “The New Reefer Madness.” The name of the series was sparked by its clever repurposing by Darwin, but it is particularly apt here as we aim to clear some of the haze around all aspects of cannabis, its use, and how to best research it. While its viewing in more recent years has been undertaken ironically, the 1936 film Reefer Madness remains an iconic example of the propaganda of drug prohibition. Debates continue over the specific origin of the global prohibition on cannabis (Gieringer, 1999), but it has indeed been global (Levine, 2002; Collins, 2020). The campaigns of the early 1900s to demonize cannabis were wildly successful as the confusion and fear they stoked still remain in the minds of many people around the world even today (Salon, 2018; Reid, 2020; The Bluntness, 2021). Even though humans have been using cannabis for myriad purposes for thousands of years (Russo, 2007; Crocq, 2015; Clarke & Merlin, 2017), the recent decades of global prohibition have left us with a massive knowledge gap around what cannabis is and what it can do, as it was previously restricted not only for public consumption but also for almost all types of research purposes (Heidt & Wheeldon, 2021; Alvarez, 2017). With Canada legalizing cannabis for medical and recreational consumer use in 2018, other states and nations have quickly followed suit with their own decriminalization and/or legalization strategies (Baek, 2021). As restrictions are lifted and cannabis legality and use are revisited around the world (Bewley-Taylor et al., 2014; Hurley, 2018), an information avalanche has come upon us with all kinds of recommendations and claims pertaining to cannabis use and its effects. Understandably and expectedly, the sheer volume of information available to consumers looking for alternative or novel health, wellness, and/or recreational solutions, and companies eager to join this multi-billion-dollar space (Global News, 2022), is overwhelming. Cannabis or hemp? Indica or sativa? Cannabinoids or terpenes? Extracts or isolates? Medical or recreational? THC or CBD? Flower or bud? Joints or blunts? Herb vape or concentrate vape? These are just a few of the topics we will be exploring in “The New Reefer Madness” blog series. So join HCD Research as we TURN ON our knowledge sharing in the cannabis space, TUNE IN to the market and the current and future consumer, and DROP OUT key insights and perspectives that can help you enter and grow your cannabis business. If you are interested in learning more about how HCD Research can help you explore the wellness space (including cannabinoids), please contact Allison Gutkowski at Allison.Gutkowski@hcdi.net. References: Alvarez, C. (2017). A Call to Higher Action: Cannabis Prohibition in the United States and Canada Makes for an Uncertain Future. University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review, 24(2), 441. Baek, C. (2021). Ending the Federal Cannabis Prohibition: Lessons Learned from the History of Alcohol Regulations, Twenty-first Amendment, and Dormant Commerce Clause Jurisprudence. Case Western Reserve Law Review, 71(4), 1323. Bewley-Taylor, D., Jelsma, M., & Blickman, T. (2014). The Rise and Decline of Cannabis Prohibition. Transnational Institute. https://www.tni.org/en/publication/the-rise-and-decline-of-cannabis-prohibition Cannabis criminalization today worse than 1930s “reefer madness” | Salon.com. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.salon.com/2018/01/30/re-criminalizing-cannabis-is-worse-than-1930s-reefer-madness_partner/ Cannabis has added $43.5B to Canada’s economy since legalization | Globalnews.ca. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://globalnews.ca/news/8585983/cannabis-canada-economy-legalization-report/ Clarke, R. C., & Merlin, M. D. (2017). Cannabis Domestication, Breeding History, Present-day Genetic Diversity, and Future Prospects. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 35(5–6), 293–327. Collins, J. (2020). A Brief History of Cannabis and the Drug Conventions. American Journal of International Law, 114, 279–284. Crocq, M.-A. (2020). History of cannabis and the endocannabinoid system. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 22(3), 223–228. Gieringer, D. H. (1999). The Forgotten Origins of Cannabis Prohibition in California. Contemporary Drug Problems, 26(2), 237–288. Heidt, J., & Wheeldon, J. (2021). Data, Damn Lies, and Cannabis Policy: Reefer Madness and the Methodological Crimes of the New Prohibitionists. Critical Criminology. Levine, H. G. (2002). The Secret of World Wide Drug Prohibition. The Independent Review, 7(2), 165–180. Reefer Madness Today: New “Study” Makes Unsupported Claims About Cannabis. | TheBluntness.com. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.thebluntness.com/posts/rnew-study-makes-unsupported-claims-about-cannabis Reid, M. (2020). A qualitative review of cannabis stigmas at the twilight of prohibition. Journal of Cannabis Research, 2(1), 46. Russo, E. (2007). History of Cannabis and Its Preparations in Saga, Science, and Sobriquet. Chemistry & Biodiversity, 4(8), 1614–1648.

Please join us in giving a warm welcome to our Senior Scientific Consultant, Martha Bajec, PhD! After completing her honours Bachelor (Brock University) and Master of Science (University of Toronto) degrees in Neuroscience and Physiology, respectively, focused on neurotransmission in arthropod models for her doctoral dissertation (Brock University), Martha’s research interests pivoted to human sensory perception and consumption behaviour. In the years since, Martha has put her broad knowledge foundation and deep curiosity to work in R&D for numerous global CPG category leaders, including Philip Morris International, Altria, Coca-Cola, Mead Johnson Nutrition, and Hexo. As evidenced by her recent publications, which range from wine sensory analysis through the valuation of senses at different life-stages, Martha’s general research interests remain broad. As Senior Scientific Consultant with HCD Research, Martha uses her expertise to understand and explain consumer preferences and behaviours for health and wellness products. A proven inventor in nicotine and cannabis product and method spaces, Martha’s innovation-forward perspectives fit HCD’s mission and vision. Building on her extensive professional experience in highly-regulated, fast-moving consumable product categories, and her personal journey managing chronic pain from multiple sclerosis, Martha brings a unique sense of the consumer into the design and interpretation of consumer and product performance research. A pessimist by nature, Martha’s skepticism and drive for evidence-based conclusions are an ideal complement to HCD’s culture of proof and transparency in research – it’s a perfect match!

For the past few years, HCD has been pushing the importance of Brand Harmony, the idea that the consumer product experience should match the marketing of that brand or product. The differences between effective and ineffective brand and product strategy show up when the rubber meets the road, in the minds of consumers. Basically, when the product experience does not meet the promises made in the marketing campaign, these incongruencies will affect the bottom line- purchase and repurchase. While effective product testing, conducted by R&D teams, is done to check product performance (including hedonics and product properties), marketing KPI metrics focus on calls-to-action such as breakthrough, recall, and purchase intent. These concepts, however, do not necessarily align with one another. A stellar performing product can still fail in market without an effective campaign, and a successful campaign may not result in repurchase of the product if the product can’t perform. From our experience, working for both the R&D product testing and marketing campaign testing teams, this misalignment is not uncommon. In fact, some estimate that 70% (or some would say 80%) new market introductions fail, and we think that the problem of Brand Harmony may be a major factor. Marketing campaigns set a tone and establish expectations in consumers’ minds. Imagine an ad pushing that a drink is refreshing- cool, crisp-looking liquids splashing around with actors drinking it and exclaiming, “Ah!” When those expectations do not match the consumer experience with the product, in this case experiencing a flat, non-refreshing drink, consumers will feel dissatisfied no matter how great tasting the product is. And this dissatisfaction can impact both repurchase as well as word of mouth and reviews. The problem driving this misalignment may also be related to how well these two research paths are run. Within companies, we often see that marketing and R&D teams work in silos. Further, research vendors typically package their capabilities along these siloed lines as well. Marketing tests messages, and R&D tests products, and the two rarely compare findings to confirm that brand promises and brand experiences are harmonious. Brand Harmony integrates the brand, marketing, and product experience to synergize consumer emotional and perceptual responses. Creating seamless, cohesive consumer experiences and blending brand and product perceptions will generate harmony and balance. This holistic experience, matching brand perceptions to product perceptions and vice versa, increases consumer satisfaction and brand equity. A focus on Brand Harmony can optimize consumer expectations and brand perceptions, yielding a greater rate of repurchase and spreading good reviews among prospects. In essence, the value of Brand Harmony is to ensure that the product meets the promise. To help clients achieve Brand Harmony, research can combine explicit and implicit testing between branding and product perceptions to check for harmonization, where the product and the promise are congruent to campaign concepts and where customer experience and expectations are optimal. Rather than conducting the branding and product testing research separately, we are suggesting executing holistic Brand Research, where the brand team can confirm that the product story and the product experience are consistent with campaign goals. This doesn’t mean lowering expectations of communications performance, but rather using powerful messaging to compel consumers to buy and repurchase because the experiences are consistent. This approach allows brand teams to identify common denominators to ensure Brand Harmony. There isn’t an economically rational reason for separating the results of communications research and product testing. Intuitively, we want to break through and communicate and speak to the actual consumer experience. Soon, HCD Research will be producing a webinar on this topic. In the meantime, if you would like more information, please reach out at info@hcdi.net.

Walking through any grocery store, it is clear that consumers are wanting more out of their products. Products featuring functional ingredients and nutraceuticals, from plant-based burgers to water with electrolytes, have become increasingly popular. However, exploring the world of nutraceuticals requires specialized knowledge and expertise. Our VP of Research and Innovation, Michelle Niedziela PhD, met with Alex Woo PhD, Martha Bajec PhD, Mackenzie Hannum PhD, and Michael Nestrud PhD to discuss the success and challenges of nutraceuticals, as well as how to explore the future of these “added benefits.” What are nutraceuticals? This discussion kicks off with Mackenzie Hannum explaining nutraceuticals. “Nutraceuticals is getting your extra bang for your buck or using food as medicine. That could include supplements or functional food that provides an additional health benefit.” Alex Woo adds some insight into the distinction between healthy foods with benefits and supplements by explaining how supplements are regulated under DSHEA [Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act], while food and beverages (with or without added protein or fiber) fall under the FDA evaluation. Furthermore, Michael Nestrud clarifies that, in his definition, a nutraceutical is the whole product, not just the added ingredient, and he encourages researchers to think more holistically about how the overall product appeals to the consumer. How does one ingredient play its part in the whole? It didn’t take long for the conversation to become consumer-focused by diving into discussions about how to make the product make sense to the consumer. Further, they emphasized how consumer expectations must be met in terms of specific features like texture, taste, consistency, etc., when companies try to include new, enticing ingredients. Since the nutraceutical ingredient is one piece of the overall product, the success criteria expand from blending the ingredient into the product to incorporating the product into the consumer lifestyle (and understanding its impact). This drives the question about what tradeoffs consumers are willing to accept for specific products. Martha Bajec warns these tradeoffs have potentially harmful concerns, especially when these products are being used as a health facilitator. Sweet like Sugar In the discussion of tradeoffs, taste remains at the forefront of priorities, leading Michael to list the numerous reasons why sugar is so prevalent in products. “It’s a magical ingredient. It delivers palatability, liking, and there’s no peak effect. It has the desirable texture and mouth-feel needed to meet expectations.” Sugar’s multipurpose makes it hard to replace because substitutes can’t cover all the functionalities without creating a complicated “taste baggage” concoction. Before losing hope for sugar reduction, Alex mentions technologies attempting to fill the sweetness modulation, like using a bulking agent or perceptual constancy to compensate for less sugar. Are nutraceuticals providing long or short-term benefits? This depends on the usage of a product in order for it to have a benefit. This understanding must be effectively communicated to the consumer. Specifics about the product’s actives and intended health benefits also impact this, showing that overall short vs long-term effects are highly subjective. Michael also shared how cues are necessary to help consumers feel an effect. “Consumers still like signals, and so I would encourage thinking through and building that into your products—what are the signals that this [effect] is real?” Do we even NEED any of this? The jury is still out on this question because it is very variable. While there is no “magic bullet” effect, some consumers do have deficiencies that may benefit from these nutraceuticals. Keep in mind how culture impacts perception. The average consumer is exposed to so many product options, which can contribute to conditioning their perspective to believing it is something they should invest in. These motivations can be caused by anything from the consumer’s health or the health of the planet. Can today’s trends last? The panelists reminisced about old trends but collectively agreed that sustainable shifts in behavior come from real, authentic benefits. Some of their predictions for currents trends that will last include: - Cannabinoids - Good, quality ingredients - Personalization - Plant-based products And, last but certainly not least… - Nutraceuticals If you are interested in learning more about how the world of wellness, including nutraceuticals, can be researched, please watch the full webinar available on HCD’s YouTube page or contact Allison Gutkowski at allison.gutkowski@hcdi.net for any other inquires.

Augmented Reality (AR) is a mixed reality that “combines real and virtual objects in a real environment, registers real and virtual objects with each other, and runs interactively, in three dimensions, and in real time” (Krevelen & Poelman, 2010). AR has become increasingly popular in people’s lives -- it is in games like Pokemon Go, social media like Tik Tok, and online shopping platforms like the IKEA app. AR surveys also have huge potential in market research, as it allows the researchers to track the participants’ in-the-moment experiences. Aiming to test and validate the AR survey tool that HCD developed, we designed a pilot study to investigate the impact of the shopping environment on consumers’ in-the-moment perceptions about the stores they were asked to visit and the products they were tasked to find. Using this study, we learned about the development and use of the AR survey tool and explored how it can be improved and used in future research. The Study The study was conducted in November 2021. Participants (n=19) were asked to go to both Target and Walmart to complete this study. In each store, they rated their feelings toward the store pre- and post-shopping and toward three specific products -- Bounty Paper Towels, Noosa Yogurt, and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm. Their feelings were measured using the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM), which breaks down people’s emotions into three dimensions: valence (sad-happy), arousal (calm-excited), and dominance (controlled-in-control) (Bradley & Lang, 1994). SAM consists of three pictorial scales that correspond to the three emotional dimensions. Since the scales do not contain words, SAM can be used regardless of cultural differences and biases introduced from verbal descriptions. AR was incorporated in the study as the participants needed to look at the stores and the products through their phone cameras for 5 seconds before they rated their feelings, and they were to continue to look through the camera when they answered the survey questions. In this way, the survey could record the participants’ most vivid shopping experiences at the moment. Study Results We only looked at directional results of this study, which can be indicative of larger effects given the small sample size. We first used two-sample t-tests to compare the means of the SAM scores of each store pre- and post-shopping and among the products between stores. Results indicated that in general, (1) the shoppers’ emotional states went downward after their shopping, as most pre-shopping SAM scores were higher than the post-shopping SAM scores, and that (2) people felt more positive about Target than Walmart, as most pre- and post-shopping SAM scores were higher in Target than Walmart. Then, we ran multiple regression models to investigate what factors explained the emotions the participants had toward the products. We ran three models as the three emotional dimensions were independent of one another. Below is a summary of the significant variables in each regression (α=.05). While there were many indicative results, the three most interesting ones were: (1) product type only matters to emotional valence, (2) the emotional dimensions can influence one another across time, and (3) the products’ perceived price only affect shoppers’ emotional arousal during shopping. Reflect on the AR Tool Through developing this study, we identified issues on the current AR tool and discussed the possible solutions to the issues as well as future research directions to improve the tool. Overall, we identified two main areas of focus: designing surveys on smartphones and adding AR surveys to the current consumer research. 1. Designing Surveys on Smartphones Since AR is often incorporated on phones, it is important to create a smooth research experience on smartphones so that the participants’ in-the-moment experiences will not be interrupted. Phone surveys cannot contain as much information as traditional surveys on computers because of the limited width of the phone screen. In this study, we changed the original 9-point SAM into 5-point scales and broke paragraphs into shorter sentences to accommodate. Furthermore, a horizontal scale can be hard to read on the phone because the font has to be small to fit the whole scale onto the screen. It could be better to put options vertically on the screen. We could also rotate the phone to landscape orientation to do surveys so that there is more information per page. But we need to consider people’s phone use habits and the convenience of holding a phone in landscape orientation because it often requires people to hold the phone with both hands. Furthermore, people have to use the camera function if they use AR on their phones. However, using the phone camera in some situations will make the participants feel uneasy during their survey process. For instance, some participants in this study commented that it felt embarrassing to hold the camera high up in the air at a store. Or it felt uncomfortable to hold the camera in front of a fridge because their hands became very cold. The solution to this problem would be creating a more fluent AR experience by reducing the camera use time. To know where and how much we should reduce it, we need to understand if using AR will interrupt people’s in-the-moment experience, and by how much participants will mix their survey experience with their shopping experience. 2. Adding AR Surveys to the Current Consumer Research Simplicity matters when we want to capture in-the-moment experiences. If the AR tool is too complicated to use, it will interrupt the shoppers' natural shopping experience. While all surveys need to be concise, AR surveys particularly need simplicity in wording and survey design since people spend limited time per page on their phones. Furthermore, combining AR surveys with more traditional survey tools might generate less confounding results. In this study, many participants commented that they forgot about the meanings of the SAM images during the survey because they were used to interpreting text instead of pictorial instructions. Given that AR is already a novel survey tool, adding SAM scales to the same survey could give the participants too much information to process. It might be better to combine a novel survey tool with more traditional tools to reduce the participants’ burden. Future research can investigate more innovative solutions to simplify the survey process. One direction could be making quick and easy responses to each survey question, like swiping left or right on Tinder. Another direction could be conjoint analysis, where people can choose from multiple options simultaneously instead of one option at a time. Concluding Thoughts While AR has huge potential in market research, its development process can be long and effortful. Thus, one important question to ask now is whether it is beneficial to incorporate AR into our current market research toolbox, considering that an immature AR survey may do more harm than good on collecting accurate information from the participants. More importantly, the advantage of using AR, i.e. capturing people’s in-context experiences, may not outweigh the disadvantage of introducing a new survey tool to the participants, as it takes time and effort for people to adopt new technologies. Another aspect to consider is to find out the niche research questions that only AR surveys can answer. It is not worth it to switch to a new survey tool if the old ones can do the job. Given that the development of the AR survey tool has just started, it can be hard to think ahead and figure out what the mature AR survey tool can do. References Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J. (1994). Measuring emotion: the self-assessment manikin and the semantic differential. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 25(1), 49-59. Van Krevelen, D. W. F., & Poelman, R. (2010). A survey of augmented reality technologies, applications and limitations. International journal of virtual reality, 9(2), 1-20.