What Innerscope Research does

Innerscope Research is a Boston-based consumer neuroscience research company that measures non-conscious consumer responses to advertising, media, packaging, and shopping experiences using an integrated stack of biometric and neuroscientific tools. Its core technology combines multiple measurement modalities, including EEG, biometrics (skin conductivity, heart rate, respiration, motion), facial coding, implicit association testing, eye tracking, fMRI, and self-report, delivered through proprietary hardware and software such as the Biometric Monitoring System (a wearable biometric belt) and the Sensus Kiosk (a kiosk-based testing platform). The company claims the largest intellectual property portfolio in the pervasive neurotechnology industry, supported by nearly 20 Ph.D. and M.D. neuroscientists and 550+ peer-reviewed publications, and has documented validation results (for example, biometric measures predicting online buzz at roughly twice the rate of USA Today conscious-dial testing in a Super Bowl ad study).

The business operates as a B2B professional services firm, generating revenue through custom project engagements with enterprise clients including consumer brands, advertising agencies, and media companies such as FOX Sports and Time Warner. Services span video ad testing, media testing, cross-platform testing, package testing, shopper testing, and natural-environment studies, with pricing structured as custom quotes based on project scope. The company was acquired by Nielsen in 2015 and now operates within Nielsen's Consumer Neuroscience division, with the original innerscoperesearch.com website domain later repurposed to host unrelated consumer survey and login portal content, indicating the standalone brand is no longer commercially active.

Name

Innerscope Research

Legal name

Innerscope Research

Website

https://innerscoperesearch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Innerscope Research is a Boston-based consumer neuroscience firm that uses biometrics, EEG, and facial coding to measure non-conscious responses to advertising and media for enterprise brands, agencies, and media companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Consumer Neuroscience Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Behavioral & Neuroscience Research (Biometrics, Eye-Tracking, Neuromarketing) (MPAAALAN)

Keywords

• Consumer neuroscience research
• Biometric market research
• Advertising effectiveness testing
• Media engagement analytics
• Shopper behavior research

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Consumer Neuroscience Research Services: Custom B2B research engagements providing consumer neuroscience insights to brands, agencies, and media companies. Revenue generated through project-based professional services including ad testing, media testing, shopper research, and custom studies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Innerscope Research provides custom B2B consumer neuroscience research studies that combine biometric measurement hardware (Biometric Monitoring System, biometric belt, Sensus Kiosk) with EEG, facial coding, eye tracking, implicit association testing, and fMRI to capture non-conscious emotional, attentional, and memory responses. The core deliverable is project-based research insights for advertising effectiveness, media engagement, package design, and shopper behavior, sold to enterprise brands, agencies, and media companies.

Product overview

Innerscope Research, now part of Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience, offers an integrated consumer neuroscience platform combining multiple biometric measurement technologies. The core offerings include the Sensus Kiosk proprietary platform, a Biometric Monitoring System (biometric belt), and specialized testing services for video ads, media, cross-platform experiences, packaging, and shopper marketing. The company provides a suite of complementary neuroscience tools including EEG, biometrics (heart rate, skin conductance), facial coding, implicit association testing, eye tracking, and fMRI, combined with traditional self-report methods. Services span advertising effectiveness, media optimization, shopper insights, and custom studies, all designed to capture non-conscious consumer responses that traditional survey methods cannot measure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Video Ad Testing Optimizes advertising creative throughout development by identifying what resonates with consumers using biometric and eye-tracking measures.
• Media Testing Improves viewer attention and retention by understanding emotional engagement drivers in program content and advertising.
• Cross-Platform Testing Analyzes consumer attention behaviors across devices to optimize communication strategies for multi-screen engagement.
• Package Testing Develops effective packaging by identifying which design and creative elements resonate best with consumers.
• Shopper Testing Evaluates communication, signage, shelf and display layouts, in-store experience, and new retail technologies to drive attention, engagement, and sales.
• Natural Environment Testing Measures consumer responses in real-world retail and media consumption environments to understand behavior as it occurs.
• Product and Sensory Experience Research Evaluates consumer emotional engagement with products and components, including sensory science applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• Biometric measures predicted online buzz nearly double the 'gold standard' USA Today conscious dial testing in Super Bowl ad study
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• FOX SportscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-year research partnership for studying advertising effectiveness. Conducted 2-year, 3-phased study on double box advertising format during NASCAR broadcasts. Used biometric monitoring and eye tracking to measure emotional engagement and visual attention with split-screen advertising.
• Time Warner Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership for cross-generational media consumption study comparing digital natives vs digital immigrants. Used biometric belts and POV cameras to measure media engagement across platforms in home environments.
• NielsencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInnerscope was acquired by Nielsen to become part of Nielsen's Consumer Neuroscience division. Brings integrated consumer neuroscience capabilities to Nielsen's global measurement and analytics offerings.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• TVision: Attention measurement company using computer-vision and panel-based monitoring to assess TV and CTV ad attention — adjacent but increasingly competitive in the cross-platform attention-measurement use case.
• Affectiva (a Smart Eye company): Pioneer in facial coding and emotion AI for automotive, media, and research applications; overlaps with Innerscope's facial coding and emotion-classification capability and competes for emotion-AI research buyers.

Direct peers

• MediaScience: Research firm measuring audience response to media and advertising using biometrics, eye tracking, and passive metering; competes for the same media-effectiveness research RFPs that Innerscope targets.
• Neuro-Insight: Global neuromarketing firm using EEG and implicit response measurement to evaluate advertising, packaging, and media — overlapping with Innerscope's EEG and implicit association testing methodologies.
• System1 (formerly BrainJuicer): Consumer insights and advertising-effectiveness firm specializing in applying behavioral science and emotional measurement to predict commercial outcomes, directly competing with Innerscope in the neuromarketing-for-advertising category.
• Realeyes: An attention and emotion measurement company using webcam-based facial coding and AI to evaluate advertising creative — a core overlapping modality with Innerscope's facial coding and biometrics capabilities.

Others

• Tobii (Pro Insights and Research): Provider of eye-tracking hardware and research solutions widely used in market research; an infrastructure/enabler for many of the same consumer-research workflows that Innerscope delivers as services.

Broad incumbents

• Kantar Millward Brown: Global brand and advertising research firm whose Link™ pre-testing solution and broader ad-effectiveness practice overlap with Innerscope's creative-effectiveness research for major brands.
• Ipsos: Large global market research group with established advertising and brand-effectiveness practices (including ASI/Ipsos-ASI heritage under Innerscope CEO Bill Moult) — directly comparable on B2B research engagements for CPG and media clients.
• Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience (parent division): The Nielsen division into which Innerscope was integrated; serves the same enterprise clients with broader media-measurement, analytics, and consumer-insights capabilities, making it the closest incumbent comparator.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/InnerscopeResearch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/innerscope-research
• Xx.com/Innerscope
• Facebookfacebook.com/nielsen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Innerscope Research