Picture this: Customer feedback without a word being said

In the grand scheme of things it’s very difficult to determine what consumers like based on traditional web analytics data, contends Alex Willcock, founder of Imagini Holdings Ltd., an online consumer research and technology development firm. “Conventional analytics basically just tell you the areas people visited on a site,” Willcock says. “They don’t tell you a person’s style.”

So Willcock developed a new method to do just that, and it does not require a single word from a consumer.

Imagini’s unconventional consumer profiling technology is being used by a handful of e-retailers to gain deeper insights into who shoppers are and what they want. The testing technology presents consumers selected by an e-retailer with questions that have images for answers. The testing is designed to capture the motivations and styles of individuals, data e-retailers can use to better select and merchandise products.

The test asks consumers about intangibles, such as how they define happiness and what family means, to more concrete matters, such as what kind of kitchen they like. Consumers then select from numerous pictures what best represents their feelings. In the case of kitchens, a large variety of styles and settings are displayed from which a test-taker can pick only one. A gray square is included in case a consumer does not like any of the images.

“Then you can start dividing the crowd up according to preferences. By doing so you have a much greater understanding of individuals’ and groups’ key motivations,” says Willcock. “E-retailers can say, ‘Ah. This person is motivated by contemporary home style, and that person likes mucking about with his car.’ If you can understand how people feel about many things, you can communicate with them in a very deep way.”

Microsoft Corp.’s MSN network is using Imagini’s Visual DNA technology to better understand network users and their motivations for being there and implement findings in an attempt to ensure the right users are getting the right message in ads and content.