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Rapid Association

DIY
Solution
Plus license
required
Product
Development
Advertising
& Messaging
Brand
Insights
Set up in minutes

Tap into respondents' System 1 thinking with the Rapid Association tool. Present an image of a product or advertisement, and respondents will quickly respond if a given attribute fits with the image. Now you can be confident that you're capturing respondents' gut level, instinctive associations.

What you'll get
  • Assocation results
    A bar chart displaying how many respondents indicated the target attribute is associated with your stimulus.
  • Detailed results
    A stacked bar chart that lets you examine, of those who didn't indicate an association, whether they explicitly indicated no association or merely ran out of time to capture a System 1 decision.
  • Association scatter plot
    Feel confident that you are capturing System 1 reactions by validating that responses were made quickly.
Common applications

Product development

Determine if the ideas you want associated with your product (e.g., clean, easy, fresh) really are, and the ones you don't want associated (e.g., boring, useless, disgusting) aren't.

Advertising & messaging

Ensure that the essence of your ad message is being conveyed by testing gut reactions to if such words fit or do not fit with your image.
Methodology

Thinking occurs in two systems: System 1 is fast, automatic, and takes little effort, whereas System 2 is slower, controlled, and effortful. When shopping, consumers often rely on System 1 thinking for a variety of reasons, such as a lack of time or ability to carefully consider each purchase selection.

The Rapid Association tool allows you to conduct market research with confidence that you're tapping into the same System 1 processes that consumers are most likely using while shopping.

Best practices
  • Avoid confirmation bias
    Don't just test words you think should be associated with your stimulus, include both opposites and unrelated words for a more robust test.
  • Set an appropriate time limit
    The less time respondents have to answer, the more likely you're capturing System 1 reactions, but remember that longer words or phrases take more time to read that short words.