After the Farm Bureau Target training in Columbus, Ohio, Oklahoma Farm Reporter Maci Carter recently had the chance to talk with Dr. Rodney Holcomb, an Oklahoma State University professor of Agricultural Economics. Holcomb discussed the research he has conducted using 3D eye-tracking technology with his graduate student, Nicholas Scribner.
“When it comes to any kind of food marketing, whether it is national, or regional or local, it really comes down to the concepts of supply and demand, and if there is no demand, supply is irrelevant,” Holcomb said. “No matter what you as a small producer may be growing, you really need to figure out what does the consumer want, what catches the consumers attention, and what makes them buy your product versus somebody else’s product.”
Using the Cowboy Meats Retail Store within OSU’s Food and Agricultural Products Center as an example, Holcomb said they looked into expansion by marketing more products on and off campus. The first step in this process, Holcomb said, is finding ways to set the product apart from others.
“We took a bunch of ribeye steaks that were almost identical, as close as we could get them, and we used different labels just to see which ones would attract the most consumer attention,” Holcomb said.
By having consumers in the study wear an eye-tracking device called the Tobii Pro Glasses 3, Holcomb said they were able to capture which products individuals’ eyes were drawn to.
“We used six different labels, various label elements on the steaks, and had the people come in and look at the display case for two minutes, just to see what caught their attention,” Holcomb said.
Cowboy Meats is an OSU product, so Holcomb said consumers are purchasing these products because of that marketing piece. Just as the target audience of Cowboy Meats is OSU supporters, Holcomb said for any product, it is critical to identify that target audience so the marketing can appeal to them.
“What we found was, it really came down to that OSU,” Holcomb said. “They wanted to see the OSU logo. The bigger the logo, the better. If you made that logo orange and black instead of just black and white, that was it.”
Each steak was nearly identical in the study, Holcomb said, yet consumers seemed to gravitate toward the steaks with a big, black, and orange OSU logo.
“Those customers see that OSU, and it means something to them,” Holcomb said. “They see that orange and black OSU brand, and it means even that much more.”
Not every company will have access to 3D eye-tracking technology to advance their marketing techniques, but Holcomb says this is not an issue. Holcomb said anyone is welcome to contact him and coordinate a study through the university for businesses looking to try out this technology.
To view Dr. Holcomb’s contact information, CLICK HERE.
