Conjoint Measurement as a Qualitative Tool

1. Conjoint Measurement as a Qualitative Tool solve problems build teams develop new ideas objectiveQUEST Inc. out-of-the-box solutions one rustling oaks road west tisbury, ma 02575 914-302-6123 alan@objectiveQUEST.net

2. outline • Tool appropriateness • Issues • Information Objectives • Approach • Questions • Next Steps

3. tool appropriateness • Conjoint Measurement works as part of Focus Groups when we are at an early stage of development when we need to be flexible re: product or advertising elements • Conjoint Measurement is appropriate when • The specific attributes/parameters are known • A variety of alternative levels of these attributes/parameters are understood • Pricing issues are critical • Brand equity is an important factor

4. issues • We have a range of options that can be incorporated into “building” a product (colors, sizes, flavors, options, functionality, pricing) as a result… • What are the attribute/feature trade-offs consumers make regarding their product/concept choices so that we can: • “Construct” the product/concept to maximize consumer interest • Develop a pricing strategy that maximizes value to both the seller and buyer and the • Of the greatest utility is getting clear direction from our investigation that we can act on the resulting information

5. information objectives • Define the relative level influence of the range of importance of product/concept attributes and features • Define the optimal combination of attribute/feature levels • Assess price/demand elasticity • Assess the role of brand equity

6. approach

7. approach – conjoint measurement • Conjoint measurement, a design/analysis tool to aid in determining the hierarchy of importance of attributes/benefits, features • The tool digs further to identify the impact of different “levels” of the attributes • Rating/ranking of a specific combination of attributes (i.e., orthogonal array) • Graphical analysis pinpoints next steps

8. approach – an example • In a recent study we looked at the impact of 3 attributes • Brand (3 different brands) • Product configuration (4 different versions) • Pricing (3 pricing levels) • We asked respondents to evaluate a set of combinations of these attributes – an orthogonal array • Evaluation based on purchase interest • The results (see graphs on next two slides) shows the following • Brand is by far the key determinate of consumer interest followed then by configuration and then price • Our brand is in 2nd place (out of the 3) – pointing to the primary priority to build brand credibility/equity

9. overall importance – brand is 1st

10. Elasticity of demand Vs

11. approach – focus group discussion • The qualitative module explores the underpinnings of consumer motivation including the attributes comprising our conjoint measurement • In addition to “standard” discussion tools we use a variety of novel group dynamic approaches to aide our process • Dynamic Mapping • Photographic Imagery Projection • Role Playing • The combination of the conjoint measurement with the qualitative insights expands our learning allowing for a focused direction for next steps in the development process

12. faqs • Does the conjoint module add cost to the focus groups? • No, we never charge extra for special analyses • Does the conjoint module add time to getting the final report? • No, we conduct the analytics as the groups are conducted so we call all process the results as we move from session to session • Is conjoint difficult to administer to respondents? • No, respondents can quickly and easily handle 16 or so orthogonally derived combinations • Is conjoint difficult to interpret and then use? • No, in fact the ease of explaining conjoint results makes it an extremely useful strategic planning tool

13. next step • Let’s talk!