Facial EMG (Electromyography)

Occasionally consumers are either not willing to or not able to report their moment-by-moment responses to products, equipment, signage, advertisements, or other elements implicated in decision making. For example, consumers may feel loyal to a particular brand and hesitant to report liking a competing product. In situations that could be prone to such biases, we employ facial electromyography, or EMG, which measures slight muscle movements in the face that cannot be detected by the naked eye.

EMG has previously been shown to be a strong indicator of evaluative responses, meaning that patterns of activity can indicate whether consumers generally like or dislike a target object. Patterns of EMG are interpreted by a team of experts who can determine both general liking, as well as any confusion caused by design flaws or labeling issues. EMG provides a moment-by-moment measure of responses as attitudes change over time – for example, as consumers are watching television ads or responding to different features of signage.

As with EEG, we suggest pairing EMG with other methodological tools in our toolbox, including observational and qualitative, self-report, tools. In pairing these tools, we are able to generate a holistic picture of human response to the test element, from attitude to behavior to brain.