Concept Testing through Quantitative Research

Learn more about the quantitative research methods Actionable Research can employ for a concept testing study.

 As described through this series, concept testing is the process of evaluating, understanding (and sometimes predicting) consumer response and reaction to a proposed new product or service. The value of concept testing lies in minimizing risk and increasing potential profits, helping companies to ensure their concept will have enough appeal and value to spur customer purchase.

 

Survey Research

The most widely-known method of gathering data for a concept test is to create a close-ended survey of customers (or likely customers) in order to ask questions about how they think and feel about the potential concept, and if they would be willing or likely to purchase it. Like all surveys, the advantage of using a survey to gather concept test data is that researchers can obtain a relatively large amount of data that (if collected correctly), ensuring a generalization to the total population of customers a company is interested in. In other words, you can get a good sense of what your customers on the whole think of your new concept.

In a straight-forward survey, companies can ask customers about the perceived problem that the product is trying to solve and about the urgency of the problem. They can then present the proposed concept and its features to better understand if it is a good fit for the current problem. Lastly, they can ask why it is a good fit and if the projected price is considered to be a good value.

This simple and straight-forward way of concept testing is a good way of getting a sense about how customers react to a new concept. However, it does have limitations - if customers react unfavorably to the proposed concept and its features, it is difficult to ascertain how they would better configure an ideal product.

 

Discrete Choice and Adaptive Choice Modeling

To find out more about customers’ ideal configuration using survey research, companies can include discrete choice models or adaptive choice-based conjoint (ACBC) to their surveys. Both techniques are powerful because they allow customers to share what they think is the optimal configuration of attributes for a product concept. Having this information allows a company to reevaluate their concept and consider potential improvements prior to full development.

The method that companies choose (between discrete choice and ACBC) will largely be based on the needs of the company and their overall goals. In discrete choice models, customers are asked to evaluate multiple overall configurations of the product and choose the one that they like the best. In an ACBC analysis, the influence of individual attributes of the product is measured. Therefore, if it very important for companies to know exactly which attributes are important to customers, ACBC can be the better choice.

Ultimately, these quantitative tools are extremely powerful in better understanding customer preferences. Using these models, companies can compare the ideal customer configurations to the actual product concept to get a better idea of the kinds of attributes customers want and how important they are. That goes a long way in helping companies better understand how their product concepts will eventually play out in the marketplace.

 

Actionable Quantitative Research

Actionable Research has years of experience and expertise conducting concept testing research. Results of a concept test provide our clients with detailed information about the major selling points and potential areas for improvement – helping them to make the ultimate decision about whether developing a concept is worth the investment.

For more information about our concept testing methodology, check out our latest blog series. If you have an interest in qualitative concept testing research, subscribe to our blog or just keep an eye out for our next post.

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