Abstract:

In many companies passionate debates exist between departments on whether a product’s stellar or lackluster performance in the marketplace is due to its sensory characteristics or to its associated imagery. In order to address this very important issue, investigations that involve both blind and branded product evaluations can be very diagnostic. Such studies will address two types of properties which we will refer to as ‘intrinsic’ (a product’s benefi ts and features) and ‘extrinsic’ (a product’s advertising and associated imagery). Consumer purchasing behavior is strongly influenced by both types of properties. For instance, even if you were to succeed in developing a cola flavored beverage that’s preferred on a blind basis over all other cola products, it is quite improbable that it will meet great success due to the strongly established relationships consumers have with existing products. Consequently being able to decipher the relative effects of each of the intrinsic and extrinsic properties would be invaluable to both the product developer and marketer. In this technical report we illustrate how Landscape Segmentation Analysis® can be used to this effect.