Lev Polonuer never expected to become a pioneer in cyberpsychology when he started working in iGaming SEO a decade ago. Yet here he is, owner and director of Pepper Partners, featured in issue 32 of SiGMA Magazine, which launched during SiGMA BiS South America 2025 in São Paulo. The piece explores how Polonuer has transformed his frustration with outdated industry practices into something genuinely groundbreaking—a scientific approach to affiliate marketing that actually understands why people behave the way they do online.
When Excel Sheets weren’t enough
Polonuer’s breakthrough came during a conversation with a university vice-chancellor training MBA students in cyberpsychology. “I saw huge potential for our field,” Polonuer explains. While others were content with basic tools, he saw an opportunity to dig deeper into what actually makes players tick.
“Most calculations were done in Excel, which is funny considering the money involved. That’s where we started,” he recalls. Four years of refining their approach led to something Polonuer describes with characteristic understatement: “About a year ago, we realised we were ready to offer it to the market”.
Today, Pepper Partners employs 25 psychologists who specialise in cyberpsychology, using around 20 different methods to analyse products across various geographical markets. His methods include eye-tracking, brain activity measurement, and heart rate monitoring—tools that reveal why an 8% drop in deposits happens when players don’t understand the process.
Science meets local culture
Polonuer isn’t naive about the challenges. “It’s impossible to handle traffic and customers in Spain and Germany the same way, even within Germany and Austria, Canada, India, or Brazil,” he points out. Polonuer notes, “the key to success in this market is understanding the cultural and behavioural nuances that drive consumer decisions here”.
Founded in 2020, Pepper Partners operates on a principle that sets them apart: “Work with a soul”. This isn’t marketing speak—it’s built on the founders’ own background as affiliate marketers, giving them genuine empathy for the challenges their partners face. Polonuer’s optimism about 2025 is infectious. “We’re expanding as much as possible right now,” he says. The response at recent industry events has been overwhelming, with meetings scheduled with directors, founders, and managers eager to apply cyberpsychology to their products.
The conversation about the future of scientific approaches to iGaming continues at SiGMA Euro-Med summit in Malta, September 1–3, where industry leaders gather to explore what comes next.
