Quantifying Emotions

Forge closer emotional connections with consumers

Emotional Signature (ES) is our proprietary tool for mapping how customers feel at any point in their journey. Our implicit methodologies bring the blueprint for emotional connections.

Meeting the emotional needs of consumers

A UK retail case study

The need:

A large UK Tech retailer was looking to improve customer experience across the purchase journey of large electrical goods. The brand had seen a dip in its Net Promoter Score (NPS) as more customers reported a ‘passive’ rather ‘positive’ experience.

Our approach:

To help understand the needs of passive customers, we captured the Emotional Signatures of customers that were in the category of ‘Promoters’, ‘Passives’ and ‘Detractors’ via post-purchase CX surveys.​

The outcome:

We identified that the brand made ‘promoters’ feel completely different to ‘passives’; the emotional needs of ‘passives’ weren’t being met. Tech customers need support throughout the purchase journey, and for retailers to better understand their needs. Current journeys were missing the support that customers need in order to feel confident that they have made the right choice and to feel burden-free.​

An action plan mapped out key steps the brand needed to take to bring the current experience closer to the desired experience and tracked CX progress.​

Our approach at a glance

Capture hidden emotional drivers

Our proprietary visual semiotics and passive tools reveal the feelings customers may not put into words.

Layer emotions with rational insight

We still capture all the metrics you are using today (NPS, satisfaction, perception ratings), so you get a balanced view.

Turn insight into action

Live dashboards highlight exactly where to focus so you can strengthen the experience.

Close the Say–Do gap

See where emotional friction is driving behaviour so you can make meaningful changes that stick.

System 1 and System 2 – two ways the brain works

Every interaction a customer has with you leaves them with a feeling — whether it’s excitement, relief, frustration or trust. Research in behavioural science shows that most decisions we make are shaped by those feelings, often in the moment, before we’ve even thought things through logically. If you only measure what customers say they think about an experience, you’re missing a huge part of the story —the part that drives loyalty, recommendations and repeat business.

Psychologists talk about two types of thinking:

Both are important, but System 1 feelings often shape what people actually do. Traditional surveys tend to capture System 2 answers — the logical “after the fact” explanations — but leave System 1 invisible. That’s why there can be a “Say–Do gap”: customers say they’ll behave one way, but their actions tell a different story.

The blueprint for emotional connections

Emotional Signature uncovers the emotions a brand, idea or service evokes in consumers. By tapping into pre-conscious, fast-thinking responses, it goes beyond what people say to reveal how they actually feel. Knowing how they feel - and how they want to feel - we shape strategies that close the gap and emotionally connect with target audiences.

Why it matters:

  • Emotions drive 95% of human behaviour.

  • By understanding emotional triggers, brands can forge closer, more authentic connections with their audiences.

  • Emotional insight reveals not just what customers think, but why they act - giving you the blueprint for better customer experiences.

How it works:

  • Non-verbal response: Participants simply swipe through images, selecting or rejecting them, freeing responses from “socially correct” answers.

  • A universal emotional language: Using visual semiotics, we’ve built a validated image library that decodes emotions into a shared visual language of meaning.

  • Actionable outputs: Our platform pinpoints the 2-3 emotions most strongly linked to your brand or proposition, highlighting emotional gaps and opportunities.

The result: Emotional Signature humanises your CX data

There are 9 emotional segments, with 8 individual emotions within each segment. This creates a rich pallet of 72 emotions. When survey participants select images using emotional signature they are speaking to us in a pre-conscious visual language full of emotional meaning. This emotional meaning is missing from most research that relies on stated attitudes.

For example, the green ‘Competency’ segment has 8 individual emotions expanding on the meaning of Competency.

These are example images from the ‘Competency’ segment and have the emotional meaning of ‘Prepared’.

The outcome is a gap between the emotional responses to the test and ideal subjects. Use Emotional Signature to compare high vs. low experience groups, track progress against your “ideal” experience or benchmark against best-in-class competitors — all in rich emotional terms that make it clear where to act for the greatest customer impact.

Keen to learn more?

If you’re ready to go beyond scores and start truly understanding what drives your customers, we can help you make emotion your next competitive advantage.