Behavioral Science Glossary

Research based on real human responses, where AI speeds up data collection and analysis, reducing cost and turnaround time without losing human judgment.

Research employing synthetic respondents panel, where data and models are used to forecast likely reactions based on predicted metrics.

Evaluating how well an ad performs by measuring attention, branding, and emotional impact using behavioral data.

Recognizing a brand after being shown specific cues, such as logos, slogans, or other brand assets.

An economic model that treats human attention as a scarce commodity, with digital platforms competing to capture and monetize it through content and algorithms.

A visual output showing where viewers focus their attention in an ad , helping ensure your brand and message aren’t overlooked.

The traits, attributes, or situations people link to your brand (e.g., “fun,” “refreshing,” “eco-friendly”).

An in-depth review of your brand’s current market position that looks past surface metrics to reveal what truly drives brand performance and business results.

Refers to the percentage of respondents who recognize the brand when prompted.

Distinctive elements (like colors, logos, or slogans) that help people instantly recognize your brand. Strong codes make your brand easier to recall at the right moment.

The commercial value your brand adds to products through trust, reputation, and preference.

A holistic view of how your brand performs across awareness, perception, emotion, and preference.

Everything that makes a brand recognizable (from its visual style and symbols to its tone of voice and language) used to express the brand and differentiate it from competitors.

The increase in brand salience driven by a campaign. It is measured by comparing brand awareness between people who have seen the ad and those who have not. A positive brand lift shows the campaign improved how well people remember or recognize the brand.

A way to modernize a brand so it stays relevant by updating visuals and messaging to match how the brand and its audience evolve.

A small but meaningful update that gives a brand a lift without starting from scratch.

Refers to the percentage of respondents who recall a brand spontaneously when thinking about a specific category or a buying situation.

Captures the emotional responses consumers have toward a brand.

Continuous measurement of your brand’s health and perception over time, showing whether awareness, salience, and category buyers are growing.

How clearly and naturally an ad connects to the brand behind it. Strong branding ensures people know who the ad is from, even before the logo appears.

The situations, needs, or emotions that trigger buying decisions in your category. The more your brand is linked to them, the more likely it is to be chosen.

The process of evaluating different ad variations to determine which messages, visuals, and formats lead to the best results.

Visual or audio elements that make your brand stand out, such as mascots, jingles, packaging, or taglines.

A behavioral science method that measures how quickly people connect ideas, revealing subconscious associations they might not be aware of.

When information is easy to process and a task can be understood with little mental effort.

Reflects on how many people in a market buy or use a product or service.

• around 2% → small brands
• 2–30% → mid-sized brands
• 30%+ → big brands

Research that uncovers category drivers and unmet consumer needs, helping you identify your best growth opportunities.

The visual, audio, and symbolic elements that immediately identify a brand. For example, McDonald’s golden arches.

The likelihood that your brand comes to mind when people are ready to buy. The stronger your mental availability, the higher your market share.

The level of a brand’s popularity in customers’ minds relative to competitors. Reflects how strongly a brand is linked to a product or category through salience (being the first brand that comes to mind).

Measures customer loyalty by asking how likely customers are to recommend a brand to someone else.

A distinctive element that a brand uses repeatedly to link itself with a specific need, desire, or occasion aka ‘Category Entry Point’.  For example, Happy Meal → McDonald’s → kids.

A measure of brand salience that assesses how often a brand comes to mind in specific situations or needs. It’s evaluated by prompting people with concrete occasions (e.g. quick lunches, gift-giving), with salience driven by the breadth and frequency of occasions your brand is associated with.

A stage where performance-driven marketing stops delivering growth because it repeatedly targets the same in-market audience and runs out of new demand to convert.

A creative approach that keeps your brand instantly recognizable while staying fresh. It means using familiar brand assets — like colors, logos, or slogans — in new, surprising ways that keep attention high without losing recognition.

The likelihood that a consumer will choose your brand the next time they buy within your category.

A gold-standard research method where groups are randomly assigned to test conditions, ensuring accurate, bias-free results.

A complete reset of a brand’s proposition, including its visual identity. It should be done only for objective reasons such as mergers or acquisitions, legal or regulatory changes, or a change in ownership.

A population sample that mirrors the full category audience, not just existing customers or fans. This ensures insights reflecting the full spectrum of light and heavy buyers.

Answers the question: “How big is the brand’s slice of the market?“ In other words, it shows how much of the market’s total revenue a brand captures.

SOM = (Brand Revenue / Total Market Revenue)×100.

Shows how often people organically search for a brand online compared to other brands in the same category.

Shows how visible a brand is compared to others in the market. It is calculated by dividing brand mentions or impressions with the total mentions or impressions in the category. As a rule of thumb, when SOV > SOM → the brand has a stronger potential to grow.

Fast, intuitive, emotional thinking that dominates real-world decisions, unlike the slower, rational System 2 thinking measured by traditional surveys.

A marketing principle explaining that most future customers aren’t ready to buy right now. Only about 5% are in-market, while the remaining 95% are unlikely to engage with your content today. That’s why building your brand matters, so people remember you and choose you later, when the need arises.

Indicates which brand people recall first when thinking about a category or product.

The ability to recall a brand spontaneously, without any prompts or cues.

A measure of brand salience that captures whether a brand comes to mind at all. It’s assessed by asking people to name brands they associate with a category without any prompts, and is best represented by the total number of unaided mentions rather than just the first brand named.

Recalling a brand spontaneously, without any cues or prompts. For example: “Think of a soda brand. ⇒ Coca-Cola“

The distinctive benefit or promise that clearly differentiates a brand, product, or service from its competitors.