Health Communications Neuromarketing Lab

The Safe Alaskans Neuro Lab measures the emotional and physiological responses that drive real behavior change, providing health promoters with evidence to design impactful messages. This goes beyond common approaches that measure only reach, message recall, and self-reported impact.

Neuromarketing for Public Health

For public health messages, where the goal is to shift behavior, knowing how an audience emotionally processes a message can be the difference between a campaign that connects and one that gets ignored.

Neuromarketing uses science to measure how people actually respond to media. Traditional methods like surveys and focus groups capture opinions. Biometric tools capture involuntary physiological responses: a racing heart, a change in facial expression, a shift in gaze.

Services We Offer

In-Person Media Testing

In-person testing using the full suite of biometric sensors — measuring heart rate, skin conductance, facial muscle response, and eye movement simultaneously. Sessions run approximately 30–60 minutes per participant. The lab team travels to communities anywhere in Alaska and beyond, making full biometric research accessible regardless of location. Results include a complete data report with evidence-based recommendations for improving your campaign.

Remote Media Testing (Webcam-Based)

Remote testing lets participants join a Neuro Lab study from anywhere. All participants need is a computer with a webcam and an internet connection. Using webcam-based technology, the lab can measure eye movement, facial expressions, emotional responses, and voice tone remotely. This option makes it easier to reach larger or geographically dispersed audiences. Note: remote testing captures attention, emotion, and arousal data via webcam; it does not include contact-based physiological sensors like heart rate or skin conductance.

Qualitative Research: Focus Groups, Surveys & Interviews

Facilitated focus groups, structured surveys, and one-on-one interviews to gather the lived perceptions and context that numbers alone can’t capture. This service can be paired with biometric testing for a complete picture of campaign effectiveness, or used as a standalone method for programs that need deeper audience insight before or after a media campaign.

How the Neuro Lab Works

What is Measured?

The Safe Alaskans Neuro Lab measures five dimensions of audience response during media exposure:

Attentiveness is tracked through heart rate. When heart rate slows slightly, it often indicates focused attention on content.
Motivational Arousal is measured through skin conductance. This shows whether a message activates the viewer’s approach or avoidance response.
Emotional Intensity is captured through facial EMG and facial expression tracking, which detects subtle muscle movements that indicate emotion.
Eye Movement and Visual Attentiveness are tracked through eye-tracking technology, which shows exactly where viewers look and how long they linger.
Perceptions and Self-Reported Responses are gathered through facilitated focus groups, structured surveys, and one-on-one interviews — providing the human context that explains what the physiological data shows.

What Types of Media Can Be Tested?

The lab can evaluate video ads, print materials, radio and audio content, websites, social media posts, and interactive media like games and apps. If an organization has already produced a campaign, the lab can test it as-is. If a campaign is still in development, Safe Alaskans can help design the study and connect organizations with resources for content creation.

What Options are Available for In-Person and Remote Testing?

The Safe Alaskans Neuro Lab offers two testing formats depending on your study goals and audience location.

In-Person Testing (Full Biometric): In-person sessions use the full suite of biometric sensors simultaneously — capturing heart rate, skin conductance, facial EMG, and eye tracking at the same time. This format delivers the most comprehensive picture of how an audience responds to media. The lab team travels with portable equipment and can conduct sessions anywhere in Alaska or worldwide. In-person testing is recommended when full physiological data is essential to the study design.

Remote Testing (Webcam-Based): Remote testing allows participants to join from anywhere — all they need is a computer with a webcam, a microphone, and an internet connection. Using webcam-based technology, the lab can remotely measure visual attention (where people look and for how long), facial expressions and emotional valence, arousal levels through webcam respiration, and voice tone and emotion. Remote testing does not include contact-based sensors for heart rate or skin conductance, but it makes it practical to reach larger participant pools, rural communities, or audiences spread across a wide geography.

What are the Steps for Working With the Lab?

The steps for working with the lab include discovery, recruitment, testing and reporting.

Discovery: Safe Alaskans meets with the program team to understand goals, audience segmentation, and existing media. Together, they decide whether in-person or remote testing — or a combination — will generate the most useful data.

Recruitment: Participants are purposefully recruited to match the intended demographic. Safe Alaskans manages consent forms, scheduling, and participant compensation.

Testing: Each participant spends approximately 30–60 minutes in the session. In-person sessions can be held at the Anchorage lab or at any location the team travels to. Remote sessions are completed by participants on their own device.

Reporting: The lab delivers a customized report with quantitative data, qualitative insights, and specific recommendations for improving messaging, targeting, and media strategy.

Who Can Work with the Neuro Lab?

The Neuro Lab is available to Alaska-based public health agencies, state programs, Tribal health organizations, nonprofits, and community coalitions. Because the lab travels for in-person testing and offers remote testing to anyone with a webcam and internet connection, organizations outside Alaska can also access the lab’s services. Project costs are structured to be accessible for organizations with small or mid-size budgets. Services can be scoped for a single campaign test or an ongoing partnership across multiple programs.

Published Findings

A Safe Alaskans Neuro Lab Study: What Makes a Traffic Safety Video Actually Work?

A two-part study conducted using the Neuro Lab examined what makes traffic safety videos persuasive to young adult men — a demographic disproportionately represented in motor vehicle crashes. The research combined biometric measurement with focus group discussions to look at the same question from both physiological and human perspectives.

The published study (Howell et al., 2019) measured heart rate, skin conductance, and facial EMG in 75 men aged 20–30 as they watched nine traffic safety videos. Videos fell into three categories: consistently low-intensity, consistently graphic, and videos that started calm and switched to graphic content mid-way. The switched-tone format produced the strongest emotional arousal and the most sustained viewer attention — outperforming even consistently graphic videos. The finding challenges a common assumption in health communication: that more graphic always means more effective.

A qualitative follow-up study gathered 18 of the same participants into focus groups one to two weeks after the lab session. Their responses revealed three themes that predict whether a safety video will resonate: whether it holds attention through suspense or an unexpected story, whether viewers feel a connection to the characters or scenario, and whether the consequences shown feel relevant and real. Participants were consistent on one point: fear of hurting someone else — especially someone vulnerable or close to them — was a more powerful motivator than fear of personal injury. Financial consequences, such as fines or insurance costs, were also cited as more persuasive than graphic physical harm. Notably, participants were divided on graphic content — some wanted to see the full impact of a crash, while others found restraint more powerful. This divergence suggests that one-size-fits-all approaches to traffic safety messaging may miss significant portions of the intended audience.

Published Citation: Howell, M., Ekman, D. S., Almond, A., & Bolls, P. (2019). Switched On: How the Timing of Aversive Content in Traffic Safety Videos Impact Psychophysiological Indicators of Message Processing. Health Commun, 34(13), 1663–1672. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2018.1517706

The Safe Alaskans Health Messaging Neuro Lab is made possible by the generous support of the Rasmuson Foundation, whose investment in innovative public health infrastructure has brought this technology to Alaska for the first time.

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Let us help you optimize your media with the power of neuromarketing.

Participate in a Study

Safe Alaskans regularly recruits community members to participate in research studies. Participants help shape the public health messages used across Alaska. Sessions are held in Anchorage or remotely from your own device — and participants are compensated for their time. No special skills or background are needed.

Health Communications Neuromarketing Lab - Center for Safe Alaskans

The Center for Safe Alaskans’ Neuromarketing Lab uses eye tracking, emotional response measurement, and biometric testing to help Alaska public health organizations build more effective campaigns. Mobile lab available statewide.

Service Type: neuromarketing

Center for Safe Alaskans

4241 B Street, Suite 100
Anchorage, AK 99503

Phone: (907) 929-3939
E-mail: info@safealaskans.org

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