6. WHAT IS A CONCEPT TEST
Stage in product development process
where a detailed description of a product
(and of its attributes and benefits) is
presented to prospective customers or
users, to assess their attitudes and
intentions toward the product
Remember: Concept testing involves testing the
“idea” of something, rather than the actual “thing”
itself
7. TYPES OF CONCEPT TEST
Concept Screenings - Quantitative evaluation of
consumer response to the product ideas presented
Positioning - Concepts within the same functional
product class are positioned and evaluated
together
Pre-market Concept Tests - The concept is
compared to competing products to determine if the
product delivers what is promised by the concept
11. OBJECTIVE
Process of using quantitative methods and
qualitative methods
To evaluate consumer response to a product idea prior to
the introduction of a product to the market
To generate communication designed to alter consumer
attitudes toward existing products
12. WHY IS CONCEPT TESTING USED?
Understand how your customers react to concepts
Estimate price sensitivity and purchase likelihood
Identify features and benefits that drive purchase
Identify target consumer segments
Assess how target consumers want the product
designed & packaged
13. BUSINESS CRITICAL QUESTIONS:
• Which concept(s) do consumers prefer?
• What features of my new product are most appealing and least
appealing to consumers?
• What are the perceived pros and cons?
• Should I move ahead with the winning concept?
• Which market should I be in?
• What is the likelihood of people purchasing or recommending my
product?
• How should my product be positioned relative to competing products
or technologies?
14.
15. CONCEPT TESTING PROCESS
Define Reflect
Choose a
the Choose a Communi Measure Interpret on the
survey
purpose survey cate the customer the results
populatio
of the format concept response results and the
n
test process
16. HOW AND WHERE ?
• In-depth Interviews
• Focus groups
• Field surveys
IMPORTANT
• Qualitative for Idea Generation
• Quantitative for Concept evaluation
• Maximum 3 concepts is tested on one respondent
• Concept Test can be done any number of times till the concept is ready
• Pictorial as much as possible
17.
18. WHO DOES IT
• Category Creators
• Category Upgraders with product differentiation
• Category Upgraders with positioning differentiation
19. SEVERAL WAYS TO SHOW CONCEPTS
• Product concept statements
• Pictures and Videos
• Interactive Multimedia
• Product samples or prototypes
• Simulation
• Storyboard
23. CONCEPT TESTING – DAIMLERCHRYSLER
• DaimlerChrysler is getting ready to commercialize its
experimental fuel-cell-powered electric car.
• DaimlerChrysler's task is to develop its fuel-cell powered
electric car into alternative product concepts, find out how
attractive each is to customers, and choose the best one.
• A moderately priced subcompact designed as a
Concept 1 second family car to be used around town. The car is
ideal for running errands and visiting friends.
• A medium-cost sporty compact appealing to young
Concept 2 people.
• An inexpensive subcompact "green" car appealing to
Concept 3 environmentally conscious people who want practical
transportation and low pollution.
Source: Retrieved from http://gmx.xmu.edu.cn/ews/business/pmarketing/chapter09.htm
24. An efficient, fun-to-
CONCEPT TEST
drive, fuel-cell- to consumers symbolically or
The concept will be presented
powered electric
physically. Here, in words, is concept 3:
subcompact car that
seats four. This high-
tech wonder runs on
liquid hydrogen,
providing practical and
reliable transportation
with almost no
pollution. It goes up to
90 miles per hour and,
unlike battery-
powered electric cars,
it never needs
Source: Retrieved from http://gmx.xmu.edu.cn/ews/business/pmarketing/chapter09.htm
25. CONCEPT TEST SUCCESS STORIES
• In recent polls, Nabisco's Oreo Chocolate
Cones concept received a rare A1 rating
• Consumers think it is an outstanding
concept that they would try and buy
• Lender's Bake at Home Bagels were also
a big hit
Source: Retrieved from http://gmx.xmu.edu.cn/ews/business/pmarketing/chapter09.htm
26. CONCEPT TESTING FAILURES
Nubrush Anti-Bacterial
Toothbrush Spray
disinfectant, from Applied
Microdontics, received an F.
Consumers found Nubrush to
be overpriced
Most don't think they have a
problem with "infected"
toothbrushes.
Source: Retrieved from http://gmx.xmu.edu.cn/ews/business/pmarketing/chapter09.htm
27. CONCEPT TESTING FAILURES
Another concept that fared poorly
was Chef Williams 5 Minute
Marinade, which comes with a
syringe customers use to inject the
marinade into meats
"I can't see that on grocery shelves,"
comments an Acu-Poll executive
Some consumers might find the
thought of injecting something into
meat a bit repulsive,
And "it's just so politically incorrect
to have this syringe on there."
Source: Retrieved from http://gmx.xmu.edu.cn/ews/business/pmarketing/chapter09.htm
Concept testing involves testing the “idea” of something, rather than the actual thing itself. The concept is communicated with a rough illustration or photograph, along with a written description. Think of a concept as a rough print ad, although concepts can be presented in storyboard or video form.Concept testing is widely used to evaluate new product ideas, so that potentially successful new products can be identified early on. Then limited research and development resources (and limited marketing resources) can be focused on the new product concepts with the greatest probability of consumer acceptance in the marketplace. Concept testing can also be used to help evaluate advertising concepts, promotional concepts, packaging concepts, and strategy concepts.
Product concept tests are useful in product development and optimization to determine which features should be included in the product or service. Positioning concept tests, on the other hand, focus on how we communicate about the product or service.In positioning concept tests, results will depend to a great extent on how the concepts are written. Sometimes clients mistake a product description for a product positioning , and test results are often disappointing. In general, customers don’t care about the product features per se, just what they stand to gain from buying a product with such features.Positioning concepts should reflect how you plan to communicate the product benefits and reasons to believe them, so you should involve your advertising agency. You need good copywriting for this.Customers always favor a clear and simple positioning. Having too many benefits listed is likely to dilute its effectiveness. If the product or service has several important benefits, you should test them separately to understand which one has the highest traction.Don’t make assumptions of what positioning would be most appealing without testing it. Concept testing can help you grow your business beyond your expectations.Service Concept test(e.g., personal computers: 12MB RAM, processor X, DVD burner, etc.)Positioning concept testIn this test, we explain how the product or service meets a customer need and what key elements will make the benefits believable (e.g., Benefit: Increased productivity. How? Large RAM memory (12MB) and the fastest processor there is (X) will allow you to process data in a manner of minutes).
Qualitative research can provide basic understanding in a product category, to serve as a foundation for the creation of sound concepts. Focus groups and depth interviews are commonly used to ensure that new product (or other) concepts are accurately communicating as intended, so that the quantitative testing will be reliable and accurate. Qualitative research is also valuable in tweaking and fine-tuning concepts. Any final evaluation of concepts should be based on quantitative research, not qualitative.
Fortune 10 company pre-tests print ads to influence purchase behaviorChallengeA Fortune 10 company wanted to test three print ads for lightbulbs. The objective was to understand which elements within the ad appealed the most and least to consumers and ultimately which one would influence purchase. ProcessRelevantView programmed each one of the print ad pages so that each feature within the ad was clickable by respondents. Respondents were asked to click on elements within the advertisement that they liked the most and subsequently the elements that they liked the least. RelevantView’sActiveSandbox technology was able to track how consumers reacted to the print ads as they clicked on each element. In the end, respondents were asked to select one of the three ads that would most influence them to purchase the lightbulb. Results The consumer packaged goods company was able to modify the advertising to make it more appealing to its target audience, using attributes that aligned with the market’s needs and values.Ad TestingMajor CPG company gathers immediate consumer reaction to advertising concepts in less than one dayChallengeNorelco Consumer Products Company, a division of Philips Electronics North America Corporation, is a leading manufacturer of men's personal grooming products. Norelco needed to quickly test consumer reaction to a variety of interactive flash advertising concepts for Norelco shavers and Sonicare® electric toothbrushes.ResultsRelevantView partnered with Modem Media to design the survey. A variety of interactive flash ads to be run on AOL were tested and the survey was completed with immediate actionable results in less than one day.