New Zealand Airport Mindset Study
A new study carried out by JCDecaux New Zealand and neuroscience research company Neuro-Insight reveals that travellers are more receptive to advertising in the airport due to the uniqueness of the experience, space and emotional intensity of air travel.
The Airport Mindset Study conducted late last year aimed to understand the emotional mindset of passengers during a typical airport traveller experience, and measure how JCDecaux AIRPORT touchpoints influence travellers throughout their journey.
Matt Kum, National Sales Manager – Airport, JCDecaux New Zealand, told us “Emotions run high when you are in an airport – from checking in and clearing security, through to shopping and dining while waiting for your flight. It’s this heightened emotional intensity that leads to high levels of memory encoding.
“This is a powerful insight, as memory encoding equals memory storage, which is proven to influence future behaviour. Our brains store information for future use, so in a moment of need, such as when faced with a purchase decision, the brain recalls detail. With 95 percent of decision making driven by the sub-conscious*, media channels that deliver high levels of memory encoding, including airport advertising, present a great opportunity for brands.”
The study also found that memory encoding in the airport is comparable to that of other media channels studied by Neuro-Insight, proving the airport environment is an effective platform to drive memory encoding, or assist memory encoding for an omnichannel advertising campaign.
Brian Hill, General Manager, APAC Neuro-Insight said the results are significant for how this influences subsequent consumer behaviour. “The high memory encoding scores tells us that advertising in airport environments create new memory structures, or reinforce existing ones, that build mental availability and drive future consumer behaviour.”
The study observed a unique neuro-state during the airport experience of changing between detailed memory encoding – capturing micro elements such as facts, details, words or price – along with global memory encoding – capturing macro elements such as meaning, connotation and feelings.
Victoria Parsons, Senior Insights and Strategy Specialist, JCDecaux New Zealand said these findings will be valuable for advertisers: “The airport environment is highly effective at driving meaningful connections with brands but is also strong at encoding the key messages within the creative. Using creative that has a mixture of imagery, faces and text, will enhance effectiveness of airport advertising as the brain switches between detailed and global memory encoding.
“Brands that are present on high performing Large Format sites on the airport approach will prepare customers’ subconscious to be more receptive to similar creative as they pass through the airport terminals. Investing in multiple airport Out-of-Home sites can help to encode many different aspects of the creative to support both a long-term meaningful connection with a brand, or to encode a more detailed short-term activation. Large Format external airport sites also reach drop-off and pickup audiences as well as those travelling through the precinct, with impactful communications.”
Key implications for brands:
- Airport touchpoints over-deliver memory encoding, building mental availability for brands and driving future consumer behaviour
- A combination of different airport assets delivers versatility in memory encoding bias reflecting the unique neural-state of the journey
- Key airport touchpoints produce high emotional intensity which, when taken advantage of, will drive stronger detail and deeper connections for brands
- Brands that use external Large Format assets create more mental availability and this is likely to enable the subconscious to process the creative within the terminal quicker.
The Airport Mindset study was commissioned by JCDecaux New Zealand and follows on from the 2022 study into the effectiveness of Large Format roadside. During the Airport Mindset study participants wore caps to measure brain activity as well as VR headsets that took them on a 30-minute virtual journey throughout the Auckland International Airport across 24 JCDecaux sites. The study involved three partner brands with nine different pieces of creative measuring the sub-conscious neural response as they walked through the airport environment.
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