Fake news has been making headlines recently. Which got me to thinking; In a world where the latest hit of fake news is becoming part of our daily routine, are we researchers also sometimes guilty of misleading audiences in the way we deliver research data? After all, we are consumers as well as professionals and so are the clients and brand owners we are delivering to. Is there a temptation, subconsciously or not, that our reporting of the facts could be influenced by the motivation for a ‘wow’ factor? Furthermore, we are in an age of disruption; new market entrants, game changers and challenger brands are constantly bringing the shock element to the fore. Are we being primed to not only expect it but to seek out shock?With these questions in mind and being a marketer (a profession openly discussed for its dressing up of and manipulation of facts!) in market research, I decided to delve a little deeper and explore the impact of content delivery and both the risks and rewards involved. This presentation will share findings from a number of studies, specifically exploring; • Are we primed to take more notice of “fake” pieces of research information • Storytelling- the power of facts or overpowering facts? • How the use of imagery impacts how we process information • Using visuals to highlight or exaggerate data differences • Quirky, mind-sticking data vs valuable, relevant data what do we remember?

1. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Fake News and the
(poten0al) Impact on
Market Research
Becki Southern
Marke0ng Director, Asia-Pacific

2. What are the emerging technologies in Market Research?
Ray Poynter, The Future Place
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
NewMR 2018 Sponsors
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3. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018

4. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
But Fake News
often seems to
punch above its
weight
Fake facts seem to get a
lot more exposure than
real facts

5. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Is this true and if so
what makes fake news
successful?
Is it the news itself or
more to do with how its
delivered?

6. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
We are the
heroes of
research facts!

7. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Are we looking for
the ‘wow’?

8. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Experiment Part 1
Tes0ng recall of Fake v Real facts
• Respondents shown 8 facts about
supermarket shopping:
§ Half real & half fake
• To see which facts were beSer
remembered the real or fake ones
• To see if we remember facts that are
counter to our own opinions more
than ones that confirm our opinions

9. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
28% love
supermarket
shopping
33% find it
stressful
60% 0me their
shopping trips
to avoid the
crowd
51% do a
regular
weekly
shop
46% make a
shopping list
35% always
check the
labels
60% try to
buy the
cheapest
58% chat to
the person on
the checkout
63% love
supermarket
shopping
59% find it
stressful
27% 0me their
shopping trips
to avoid the
crowd
23% do a
regular
weekly shop
75% make a
shopping list
69% always
check the
labels
30% try to
buy the
cheapest
24% chat to
the person on
the checkout
The fake
The facts (and non-facts!)
The real

10. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Mention the real fact Mentioned the fake fact
Fake Real Fake Fake Fake Fake Fake Real
The results
6 out of 8 fake facts got better recall

11. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Facts to predict
….% love
supermarket
shopping
….% find it
stressful
….% 0me their
shopping trips
to avoid the
crowd
….% do a
regular
weekly
shop
….% make a
shopping list
….% always
check the
labels
….% try to
buy the
cheapest
….% chat to
the person on
the checkout

12. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
28% love
supermarket
shopping
33% find it
stressful
60% 0me their
shopping trips
to avoid the
crowd
51% do a
regular
weekly
shop
46% make a
shopping list
35% always
check the
labels
60% try to
buy the
cheapest
58% chat to
the person on
the checkout
63% love
supermarket
shopping
59% find it
stressful
27% 0me their
shopping trips
to avoid the
crowd
23% do a
regular
weekly shop
75% make a
shopping list
69% always
check the
labels
30% try to
buy the
cheapest
24% chat to
the person on
the checkout
The fake
More real facts were predicted accurately
The real
The results

13. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
The results
Counter
intui0ve
Counter
intui0ve
Counter
intui0ve
Counter
intui0ve
Counter
intui0ve
Counter
intui0ve
Counter
intui0ve
Counter
intui0ve
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Love stress Time Regular list Labels Cheap Chat
8 out of 8 counter intuitive facts get better recall

14. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Is this a sense
check on real
data being
boring?

15. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
The results
Only 3 out of the 8 fake facts are more accurately
remembered
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Love stress Time Regular list Labels Cheap Chat
Closely recalled the real figure (+/-5%) Closely recalled the fake figure (+/-5%)
Fake Real Real Fake Real Tie Fake Real

16. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Warning!
This was one simple
experiment testing small
number of facts and
should be treated as
anecdotal evidence
To quote it you may be
disseminating fake news!!!

17. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Experiment Part 2
Does delivery have an impact?
The facts were delivered in four ways:
• To see if a narrative enhances fact recall
• To see if imagery increases fact recall
• To see what type of imagery best improves fact recall
• To see if using a pre-quiz where respondents had to
predict the answers improves recall
1.
Text only
2.
Story form
3. Visualised
with icons and
images
4.
Primed with a
pre-quiz

18. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Story form
Do you enjoy supermarket shopping? We have recently conducted some research which revealed that only
28% of people enjoy supermarket shopping.
33% found it stressful.
What was it that they disliked most about supermarket shopping? ..crowds of other shoppers!
60% try to time their shopping trips to avoid the crowd.
We learnt that there are 2 types of supermarket shopper. "the planners" who do a regular weekly shop and "On demand"
shopper who just shop when they need to, which type do you think you are?
…Planners are in a very slight majority,
51% of people say they do a regular weekly shop.
And do you use a shopping list?….If you do, you are in a slight minority, only
46% of people use a shopping list when they go supermarket shopping.
What about checking prices and looking at the labels are these things you do?
…Whilst 60% of people check prices and try to buy the cheapest, only 35% read the ingredient labels.
Finally, when you get to the check out are you one of the
55% of people who chat to the person on the check out til, or one of the 45% who don't?

19. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
The results
Recall
improves by
25% with
simple
storytelling
1.9
2.4
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
Text facts Facts told as story
Average number of facts recalled (prompted)

20. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Visuals

21. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
1.9
3.3
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
Text facts Visualised facts
The results
70% more
facts
remember
ed overall
Average number of facts recalled

22. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
The results
We found some types of visuals stood out more and in
some cases the text alone was actually more memorable

23. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
The results
Visuals that worked were the ones that simply re-enforced
the facts
22% recall 35% recall

24. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
The results
Visuals that worked were the ones that simply re-enforced
the facts
34% recall 30% recall

25. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
The results
Emotive and more ‘human’ images have a greater impact
15% recall 18% recall

26. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
The results
But visuals need to effectively communicate facts, not
distract from the information
35% recall 26% recall

27. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
The results
Representative image choice can be complicated
Time Crowd

28. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Pre-quiz motivation

29. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
The results Average number of facts recalled
1.9
3.0
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
Text only Pre-quiz
Challenging
boosts
spontaneous
recall by
over 50%

30. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
The results
‘Pre-
motivation’ is
the strongest
method of
recall
39% 39%
45%
51%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Text Story Visualised Pre-quiz
% of facts precisely recalled (prompted)

31. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
• We are naturally drawn to any facts that are counter
intuitive – so we naturally notice and remember fake facts
more readily
• The way we deliver information matters
• Searching for the ‘interesting’ might be less significant than it appears
• Overfit- no harm in double checking otherwise could be in danger of
delivering fake news to your client
• Inflate or deflate- delivery can override the fact itself
• Visuals magnify our curiosity but use them wisely- emotive, resonating
images get more accurate recall than hard-hitting images
• Consider a pre-quiz or pre-engagement with your audience to focus
their mind for data retention
Key Takeaways

32. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Fake news
spreads like
wildfire
Don’t let it be in
your presenta0on!

33. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Thank You!
Becki Southern
Marke0ng Director, Asia-Pacific
rebecca.southern@lightspeedresearch.com
LinkedIn: Becki Southern
Your
Photo

34. Fake News and the (poten0al) Impact on Market Research
Becki Southern, Lightspeed
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
Q & A
Becki Southern
Lightspeed
Sue York
NewMR

35. What are the emerging technologies in Market Research?
Ray Poynter, The Future Place
Festival of
#NewMR 2018
NewMR 2018 Sponsors
Pla0num
Gold
Silver
Communica0on
Your name here?
S0ll 0me to be a
2018 NewMR Sponsor