The tool places opt-in polls on Facebook users’ homepages to gauge attitude to adverts on the site and to measure purchasing intent.

Louise Ainsworth (pictured), Nielsen Online’s managing director for EMEA, said: “The power and scale of Facebook’s community provides a unique platform for research and this offering complements the portfolio of tools available to marketers in the UK with simple and fast insights on brand advertising.

“Facebook and Nielsen are committed to changing how people think about online advertising, particularly looking beyond direct response to the effectiveness of the internet for brand-orientated campaigns. To do this we intend to quickly build up a body of work here in the UK to provide local benchmarks to supplement those already available from studies in the US.”

Nielsen said that more than 70 studies have been carried out in the US so far, spanning the FMCG, retail, technology, telecom, financial, automotive and media and entertainment sectors.

The firm said that the results of these studies had shown changes in brand ‘lift’ metrics, such as brand awareness.

Facebook’s UK commercial director Stephen Haines said: “Marketers have responded positively to BrandLift studies in the US and we know marketers in the UK will also benefit from a better understanding of how people react to their online campaigns.”