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Copyright © 2010 The Nielsen Company

Nielsen

Homescan & Life360 

Technologies

Michael Link, Ph.D.

Chief Methodologist

Data Capture Technologies Seminar

March 18, 2010
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Agenda

 Homescan – Collection of consumer purchase 

information (products, place of purchase, price, use of 

coupons/sales) with behavioral & attitudinal surveys

 Life360 – Digital ethnography to capture in greater 

detail what is happening in people’s lives to gain 

insights into behaviors, attitudes, lifestyles and 

personalities 

 Focus here is on technologies used, not panel 

recruitment, compliance or maintenance issues
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Background of Homescan

 Consumer panel services operate in 26 

countries

- 248,000 households globally

- Using three different approaches: diaries, 

dustbin, and scanner

 In US, Homescan device (UPC scanner) is 

used:

- Facilitates electronic capture & transmission 

of data on an on-going basi
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Scanner Features

 Keypad

 Display (2 lines / 16 char)

 Battery (rechargeable)

 Allow up to 500 UPC scans.

HOMESCAN MENU:

RECORD PURCHASES
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Main Menu Options

The main screen will have 3 menu 

options:

 RECORD PURCHASES

 ANSWER SURVEYS

 TRANSMIT NOW

HOMESCAN MENU:

RECORD PURCHASES
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HOMESCAN MENU:

RECORD PURCHASES

Main Menu Options

In order to view the menu 

options, you would press the 

Up or Down arrow keys (Yes or 

No keys) to scroll through the 

menu items, then press the 

SCAN/ENTER key to select the 

proper function.
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Recording Purchases

To begin recording 

purchases, you would scroll 

down to the “RECORD 

PURCHASES” menu option, 

and press SCAN/ENTER.

HOMESCAN MENU:

RECORD PURCHASES
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Recording Purchases

After selecting the “RECORD 

PURCHASES” option, the 

“STORE NAME” screen will be 

displayed.

STORE NAME:

BED BATH BEYOND
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Recording Purchases

• Selecting a Store

All the stores in your area 

would be listed alphabetically 

from A-Z in your scanner.

Once the desired store name is 

highlighted, you would press 

the SCAN/ENTER key to select 

the store where you shopped. 

STORE NAME:

BED BATH BEYOND
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Recording Purchases

The scanner will then ask 

“Frequent Shopper Card Used?”, 

followed by “Double or Triple 

Coupons Used?” You would 

answer Yes or No.

FREQUENT SHOPPER

CARD USED?
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Recording Purchases

• Scanning Barcodes

To scan barcodes, you must 

press the SCAN/ENTER key 

while simultaneously pointing 

the scanner at the barcode of 

the item purchased. The 

scanner will beep indicating 

the item has been scanned.
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Recording Purchases

The scanner will ask “Quantity 

Purchased 1”. You would enter 

the appropriate quantity using 

the numeric keys, then press 

SCAN/ENTER.

If the Quantity is 7 or greater 

you will be asked “are you 

sure?”

QTY PURCHASED _1
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Recording Purchases

The scanner will then ask “Any 

Deals Used?” You would press 

the Yes or No keys to respond.

ANY DEALS USED?
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Recording Purchases

• Types of Coupons

If you respond YES to “Any Deals 

Used?”, the “COUPON” screen will 

be displayed. You would enter a 

combination of numbers 1 and 2, as 

follows: 

Store Coupon: 1

Manufacturer Coupon: 2

Both Store & Manufacturer: 12

CPN: STR=1/MFR=2

ENTER (1,2 1&2)__
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Recording Purchases

• Type of Sales

The “SALE” screen is the next 

screen displayed. You would enter 

any combination of numbers 1 and 2, 

indicating the types of sales that 

applied: 

Store Sale Only: 1

Other Sale: 2

Both Store & Other: 12

SALE: STR=1/OTH=2

ENTER (1,2 1&2)__
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Recording Purchases

• Coupon Face Value

The “COUPON FACE VALUE 

$___.__” screen is displayed if 

you select 1 or 2 on the 

COUPON screen. You would 

sum up the coupon values of 

all the coupons used, and 

enter a total coupon value 

using the numeric keys, then 

press SCAN/ENTER.

COUPON FACE

VALUE $___.__
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Recording Purchases

• Finish Recording Purchases

After you have finished scanning, 

you would press the EXIT key. The 

“ARE YOU DONE SHOPPING?”

screen will be displayed. You 

would then press the YES key, 

indicating that shopping is 

complete.

ARE YOU DONE

SHOPPING?
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Recording Purchases

• Total Amount Spent

The “TOTAL AMOUNT SPENT 

$___.__” screen is the next 

screen displayed. Enter the total 

amount spent during the 

shopping trip using the numeric 

keys, then press the 

SCAN/ENTER key. 

TTL AMOUNT SPENT

$____.__
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Recording Purchases

The THANK YOU screen will 

pop-up indicating that you 

have successfully completed 

recording purchases.

THANK YOU!
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Answer Surveys

The second main menu option is 

ANSWER SURVEYS. You would 

receive paper surveys in the mail. 

Scanner is used to respond to the 

survey by scanning barcodes 

associated with the response 

options. 

RECORD PURCHASES

ANSWER SURVEYS
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Transmitting Via the Internet

The new scanner’s 

transmission process 

will have two-way 

communication.

1

3 2

4
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Store List & Software Updates

After the data is transmitted, 

Nielsen’s system will determine if an 

updated store list or software 

upgrade is available. If so, the 

system will automatically download 

the information to the scanner. 

RECEIVING

STORE LIST...
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Transmitting Via the Internet

A “TRANSMISSION SUCCESSFUL!” and 

the number of trips and surveys 

messages will be displayed on the 

scanner. The transmission successful 

message will also display in the PC 

status log

TRANSMISSION

SUCCESSFUL!
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Homescan Internet Transporter

 Installed on the PC

- Window 0S7, Vista, XP, 2000, 98, ME, NT and 95

 Viewable as a tray icon

 Transparent to the Panelists

 Supports dial-in and/or high speed Internet 

connection

 Initial PC application distributed via CD. Future 

distributions will be downloaded via the Internet
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Transmitting Via Modem

The new scanner’s 

transmission process 

will have two-way 

communication.

1

2 3

4

Place scanner

in the Modem 

Home Base.

Connect your telephone 

line to the modem.
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Summary of Homescan Technology

 Provides a wealth of detailed consumer goods 

information

 Provides information quickly and on-going basis

 Relatively easy to use from participant’s stand 

point
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The Life360 Approach
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Objective

Capture in greater detail what is happening in people’s lives 

to gain insights into behaviors, attitudes, lifestyles and 

personalities

Digital Approach

New digitally-powered tools (mobile devices 

voice, text, pictures, video, applications – and

Internet platforms) allow researchers to capture

a range of “observations” without personally

embedding themselves within the community of

interest

Why Digital Ethnography?
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Life360 Approach

 Life360 is a concept, not a static approach

- Utilize a set of tools to develop more in-depth understandin

- As the tools evolve, Life360 evolves

 Types of Insights Gained:

- Real-time digital ethnography delivers content rich data to

document real-world experiences.

Respondents offer words and images to catalog their daily 

experiences; can be tailored to specific themes 

- Collaborative approach empowers participants to share moods, 

likes and dislikes.

New avenues of insight, appreciation and communication

Feedback from respondent debriefs is they enjoyed 

participating
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Data Collection Techniques Used

Measurements

 Mobile-enabled data captur

Timed Text Surveys

Pictures/videos

 Web-based data captur

Pre- and Post- Surve

Personal E-Journal
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Mobile-based Time Use Surveys

 Survey platform:

- Techneos’ Entryware run on Blackberry 

- Features: flexible alarms, the ability to ‘lock down’ a device, and 

complex scripting capabilities for branched questions

 Timer used to alert respondents to survey

- They can take survey or “snooze” if needed

- Typically alerted every hour, but can be set for self-initiation of

random intervals depending on project need

 Survey content varies per client: 

- Place, Activities, & People

- Moods/Circumstances (scales)

 Happy/Depressed

 Energetic/Tired

 Engaged/Bored

 Concentrating/Multitasking
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Capturing the Visual Element

 Utilize the visual features of 

mobile devices

- Capturing photos and video

 Adds contextual data to a 

person’s profile

 Images can be coded for 

more systematic analysis

 Allows respondent to 

become more involved in 

process

- Provides insights into their 

focus of attention & current 

activities
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Other Elements of Life360 Approach

 Pre- & Post-Field Internet Surve

- Collect key background and demographic information

- Collect attitudes, monitor change

 Online Journals:

- Allows respondents to provide life details in their own words
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Life360 Provides Broad Mix of Measures

 Qualitative 

- Words 

- Pictures

- Audio/Video

- Sentiment (Journals)

 Quantitative

- Survey responses

Recurring mobile 

surveys

Pre-Surve

Post-Surve

•Lifestyles & Personas: Information combined to 

provide fuller delineated market segments & 

insights to consumer behavior.

•Evolving Toolkit: As the digital tools evolve, the 

Life360 approach will evolve as well
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Thank you!