A relevant contribution to the success of a product
In a context in which consumers have a wide variety of products within their reach, easy access to information and share their experiences, the decisions made about products acquire special relevance. The best marketing strategy might not be enough to mask a bad product.
Product tests show how consumers perceive a product.
They are typically associated with the development of new products, but can also be used to improve existing products, strengthening their position against the competition and maximizing the duration of the product’s life cycle.
When is it convenient to carry out a product test?
In the control and monitoring of existing products
- Better understand the strengths and weaknesses of a product against the competition.
- Detect “gaps” not covered by existing products in the market and opportunities for line extensions / innovations.
- When faced with problems in the image of the product, find out if they come objectively from problems with the product or if it is just an image issue
In the development of new products
- Identify the prototype with greater acceptance in the target
- Optimize attributes to maximize overall product liking
- See how the product performs against the expectations generated by concept / packaging / brand, before launch
- Maximize fit with desired positioning
- Evaluate product performance against its main competitors
When changes are made to existing products
- Optimize attributes to increase the overall liking of the product
- Assess whether an improvement in the product is perceived by consumers
- Find out to what extent they perceive changes made to the product to reduce costs
- Monitor perception of changes -in suppliers, processes, raw materials-
Main types of product tests
There are numerous types of product testing. The main “families” are:
- Descriptive: What are the attributes that consumers take into account when describing products? Are there segments?
- Discrimination-similarity…. Are there differences between the products? Or are they perceived similar, and can they be interchangeable?
- Acceptance…How much do they like? What attributes is acceptance based on?
- Preference… Which of the products do you prefer? What attributes is the preference based on?
How is the most appropriate test chosen?
To decide what type of test is going to be used, the objective of the test must be clearly determined, -depending on the decision to be made-, the key attributes to be measured and the level of reliability desired for the results.
Other factors also intervene in the choice of test design, such as…
Kind of product
- Habitual mode of consumption
- Number of products to test
- How many alternatives can each consumer evaluate?
Most suitable consumption environment
- Central location test, or
- In-home test
Consumption environment
- Type “laboratory”
- Reproducing a “real” consumption situation
Information about the brand
- No brand (blind test)
- Branded
How will the products be presented?
- With or without Product Concept
- With or without packaging
Intermarket carries out product tests in different LATAM countries in a wide variety of categories, with vast experience in testing food, beverages, cleaning products and personal hygiene, and offering a wide range of solutions that can be adapted to suit your needs. the times, budgets and data required by their clients.
