Introduction
Perceptual Map
Creating a perceptual map (PM) is an important tool for analyzing the market and its structure, making decisions about positioning, or identifying a competitive set. The effectiveness of the method is linked to its simplicity and, at the same time, its ability to generate results and interpret them. The first step of creating a PM is determining the attributes of the selected products that clients appreciate. This step is crucial as this phase is part of analyzing the market and determining the values that should be present in products.
Collecting perception data is the next step in creating PM. It implies using questionnaires and surveys distributed among focus groups to better understand how clients view a particular product, perceive it, and their attitudes toward specific features. Various scales can be used to identify the degree to which clients are interested and their readiness to buy a specific item.
Analyzing the data is the next critical step of working with PM. The major purpose of this step is to reduce and structure acquired information without losing meaning and important outcomes. For this reason, underlying patterns and relationships between outlined attributes should be discovered during this phase. SPSS factor analysis is another tool used to acquire better results during this stage. The rotated component matrix (VARIMAX) and Total variance explained can help to systematize information and present it.
Finally, the acquired information should be used when drawing the PM. The axes should be named following the underlying attributes, while excellent and bad gaps should also be located. Positioning a brand in a specific place helps visualize the company’s current state and the situation within the market, and understand what features are appreciated by clients and should be cultivated in the future.
Conjoint Analysis
Conjoint analysis (CA) is another critical tool for analyzing a product by decomposing a client’s value system for a product from the overall judgment of the product. CA calculates market share, determines possible barriers to entry, and stimulates the product’s development. The first stage of CA implies using focus groups to select the attributes clients appreciate. It is also essential to determine various levels of attributes.
The next step suggests selecting stimulus representations, such as text, pictures, and prototypes. Next, designing the experiment is essential for determining profiles by combining design parts to choose a response time. It will help to decompose meanings.
The collected data should be analyzed during the next phase using regression analysis. Using the regression coefficient data, it is possible to structure findings and outcomes and rescale all acquired utilities. Finally, the next step should be devoted to interpreting the conjoint output or the data obtained during the process.
In general, CA is an essential tool that helps to enhance understanding of how the market works and what features clients appreciate. It should be present in products for them to become topical and popular. CA also helps decompose a product’s value system, which is essential for analyzing the entry strategies, the importance of specific features, and how they should be addressed to attain success and avoid failures during the entry.
Output
Perceptual Map
Thus, both PM and CA can be viewed as a part of the procedure aimed at acquiring an enhanced understanding of the market, brands, positioning, and products. Thus, PM’s major output is a better vision of how clients perceive brands. For instance, axes represent attributes important for understanding the product and why clients appreciate it. Furthermore, visualizing the information acquired during the analysis makes it possible to create competitive clusters and understand competition within a specific sphere or aspect.
Brands placed in the same clusters face a high level of rivalry. Moreover, PM helps to realize the brand preference by looking at its position on the map. The gaps between brands on the preference vector show the real position within the market. They might help to realize the real situation within the market and selected sphere, and make specific conclusions about further positioning.
Furthermore, using PM, it is essential to determine the good and bad gaps. It would help to consider possible repositioning into a good gap. By improving the primary preference driving features, it is possible to alter the position of the selected firm and guarantee that it will move to another cluster. Moreover, choosing the exact location of the brand on the PM is critical as it indicates several vital aspects.
First, it shows the degree of competition; second, it helps to visualize additional auxiliary attributes of a specific brand that are critical for the analysis. In such a way, PM is a tool that critically depends on creating the map and placing firms in terms of the collected and analyzed data. PM demonstrates the current state of the market, the competition within it, and the values clients appreciate.
Conjoint Analysis
CA has similar purposes and can be viewed as part of the procedure aimed at acquiring an enhanced understanding of how the market works and what features impact clients’ decisions to buy particular products. It helps to answer questions about what features should be added to a particular item to make it more attractive to clients. Thus, several important outputs of CA are important for brand positioning.
First, it helps create an optimal product with the features clients desire. Second, CA helps calculate the feature’s importance and determine whether it should be added to the product. The tool also effectively determines the market share by using acquired data. Finally, CA provides the chance to simulate the market and create better market entries by considering the existing tendencies and how they might be used to attain better results.
Altogether, perceptual mapping and conjoint analysis are part of the procedure aimed at cultivating a deeper vision of the market and the peculiarities of its work at the moment. PM helps to visualize the current positions of the brand and how they are interconnected. By assigning axes to specific attributes outlined by using focus groups, it is possible to imagine the marketplace and competition within it. The tool effectively determines values that should be present in the product for it to become popular.
In such a way, PM and CA are powerful tools for working with certain products and segments and calculating the market share. Acquiring reliable and credible data about the situation within the sphere makes it possible to make future decisions about the strategy and ensure that success will be attained.
Application
Perceptual Map
Using PM for the real case, selecting a specific product category, and considering its analysis using the tool is possible. Thus, the selected item is laptops, which are becoming increasingly popular nowadays and are used for various purposes, ranging from work to playing video games or communicating using a web camera. Thus, the target market comprises young and middle-aged adults of all genders with middle and high income levels. These people are the most active users of the Internet and technologies.
Moreover, they can work online, meaning they need laptops to succeed. Additionally, another essential feature of the target market is portability. In other words, people should value the ability to move and have their computers with them. For this reason, the target market for laptops comprises young and middle-aged people who use them for diverse purposes.
Thus, creating PM implies working in focus groups to collect information about clients’ preferences and their attitudes toward specific brands and features presented in them. The participants of the focus groups were selected considering the peculiarities of the target market outlined above. Following the acquired data, the following ten popular brands offering laptops can be outlined:
- Hp.
- Lenovo.
- Xiaomi.
- Acer.
- Asus.
- Apple.
- Dell.
- Samsung.
- MSI.
- Razer.
The given brands are considered the most topical for the target market because of several factors. First, all individuals from the focus groups have heard about them and/or consider these manufacturers popular or reliable brands that can be selected as potential laptop suppliers. Second, individuals had the experience of using the brand and its products. Finally, the companies have other products belonging to the technology sphere.
Furthermore, PA implies identifying the primary attributes fitting the category of products selected for the research. The focus groups help to acquire information about these features and list them. Moreover, for PA, the attributes can be both measurable, objective, and subjective, and emotionally colored ones. They represent the clients’ overall attitude to the product and what features they expect it to have. The list comprising the following 16 attributes was created:
- Design.
- Color.
- Performance.
- HDD storage capacity.
- Speed.
- Reliability.
- Processor.
- Price.
- Operating system.
- Sound.
- Web camera.
- Preference.
- Autonomous work.
- Screen.
- Touchpad.
- RAM.
The attributes include both specific features important for selecting a laptop and more subjective ones. This means that clients look not only for objective factors associated with reliability, design, and performance but also devote attention to the product’s color, design, and other features that will not directly impact the product’s work.
The summary shows that creating a PM requires several stages and working in focus groups. The product choice should be followed by determining the target market and considering the major demographic characteristics of the audience. The focus groups should be comprised of the representatives of the target group to acquire credible and relevant data related to the product under analysis. Collecting data from individuals makes it possible to create a list of 10 brands that will later be presented on PM. Finally, following the data shared by clients, it is possible to formulate a list of attributes they appreciate.
Conjoint Analysis
A conjoint analysis tool can also analyze the value system for a product and the peculiarities of the market’s needs. By determining the features necessary for every product and evaluating the market share, it is possible to guarantee that the market entry barriers will be overcome and that success will be attained. Thus, for the same product category as outlined previously, laptops, a specific set of measurable and objective features can be outlined using focus groups and client interviews.
The features are essential for creating a complete image of the product, which might make it attractive to clients and appreciated by them. For this reason, the CA tool applies to the situation and helps to determine the laptop’s value system. Additionally, the outlined features have three levels essential for investigating the market and existing offerings. The following list was created:
Table 1 – Product Features on Three Levels
The given list is essential for making CA and conducting market research, as it shows the features essential for clients and the levels they look for when deciding to buy a certain product. For this reason, their investigation and correct understanding are essential for the whole procedure and the comprehensive market investigation. Several important outcomes should be outlined after analyzing the list. First, the features are measurable, meaning the manufacturer or the brand can evaluate every aspect and determine the space for improvement. It is essential to add features that clients appreciate and make the product more attractive.
Second, some of the outlined attributes can also be found in the PA, meaning they are important for clients and overlap. The web camera, RAM, and price are essential when determining the product’s qualities and whether it can enter the market successfully and be popular in the target market. Finally, the three outlined levels of every feature are necessary for determining the existing peculiarities of the demand, creating the complete image of the value system for the product, and its future analysis.
Conclusion
PM and CA processes are essential for analyzing the product, market, and important client aspects. These are powerful tools for establishing the value system for a product and making the existing offerings more attractive to clients. For the selected category, laptops, the target market comprises young and middle-aged individuals who use the devices for various purposes.
Thus, the attributes outlined for PM are objective and subjective, as this procedure implies using various types of data to determine the brand position and rivalry within the sphere. For CA, only measurable and objective attributes with three levels are included to perform the analysis and acquire correct data for future use. In this way, companies should use CA and PM tools to determine their entry strategies and identify attributes that are appreciated by the target audience and should be added to the product.