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Heineken Vision One

Heineken Eye-Tracking Study

The Challenge

As the leading on-trade lager brand in Ireland, Heineken enjoys widespread presence across pubs and bars. However, in an increasingly crowded and competitive on-trade environment, visibility alone is not enough. Heineken needed to understand how point-of-sale material influenced real-world purchasing decisions, particularly the choice of first drink.

The challenge was to determine how the volume, type and placement of POS affected behaviour across different bar environments, including single-branded, mixed and competitor-dominated venues, and to identify which executions genuinely delivered impact and return.

Heineken Market Research Case Study

Research Objectives

The research was designed to understand the behavioural role of point-of-sale material in driving on-trade purchase decisions. The key objectives were to:

  • Assess how POS influences the choice of first drink in on-trade environments
  • Understand the impact of POS volume, format and positioning on attention and choice
  • Compare performance across single-branded, mixed and competitor-branded pubs and bars
  • Identify which types of POS material deliver the strongest behavioural impact
  • Quantify how POS can be optimised to improve effectiveness and return on investment

Together, these objectives aimed to inform more strategic, evidence-led on-trade support.

Research Approach

Vision One, working with its Advanced Research Unit, developed an innovative, behaviour-led methodology. The approach included:

  • Bespoke customer journey video scenarios simulating real pub and bar environments
  • Multiple films featuring different branding routes and POS configurations
  • Still imagery to test alternative branding and POS executions
  • Eye-tracking technology to capture fixation and attention along a single branded route
  • A supporting quantitative survey to measure how purchase decisions were influenced by POS volume, type and placement

This approach enabled robust testing of POS impact in controlled yet realistic scenarios.

Findings

The analysis revealed a clear and measurable relationship between point-of-sale branding and the selection of the first drink. The research demonstrated that both the placement and type of POS materially influenced choice, with certain executions consistently outperforming others.

Importantly, results varied by environment, with different POS formats performing strongest in single-branded, mixed and competitor-led venues.

These findings showed that not all visibility is equal, and that strategic POS deployment can actively shape purchasing behaviour rather than simply reinforce brand presence.

Action & Recommendations

The findings enabled Heineken to reshape its on-trade support strategy in Ireland. By prioritising POS formats and placements proven to deliver the highest impact, Heineken was able to focus investment on executions with the strongest ROI.

The research provided clear, evidence-based guidance to support the growth of managed brands, ensuring on-trade activity was both commercially efficient and behaviourally effective.

Dinks Market Research Agency - VIsion One
Kendra Furey, Head of Brands (Vision One)

Testimonial

“The team were a pleasure to work with. They went above and beyond to deliver an answer to our business issue. with tight deadlines and an even tighter budget!
I look forward to working with them again!”

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