Behavioural economics has demonstrated that context is key in influencing our decision making. We can now immerse respondents in virtual scenarios where they can experience what we are researching as they would encounter it in the real world and consequently give responses that better predict their likely real world behaviour.
This has potential impact for many sectors. Respondents can visually have the experience of walking into a shop and seeing a new pack, or new products on shelf with their competitors. They can also see a new point of sale drawing attention to a new product or service and even see new out of home advertising in the context of the hustle and bustle of the streets.
Moreover, by developing the PopulusLive VR panel, research that up to now could only be carried out qualitatively, can now be done at scale with quantitative size sample groups.