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Proposal ECP
Proposal ECP
competitive designs such as the brand-price-trade-off (BPTO) approach or choice based conjoint
In this paper, the preference reversal phenomenon known from risk research will be investigated
in competitive decisions environment where in we want to know how the participant behave
with higher valuations in terms of a cash equivalent (CE) or a willingness to pay (WTP).
For conducting this research, we will start at first, to know what is the participants preference
order of alternatives when we give them a competitive environment with similar products of
same price and then we will go for comparing in different price environment. Over here we will
give participants a choice of tasks between product offered at different prices and in some case
a no-buy option. For doing so, we will apply framing that adapts the natural consumer
environments in terms of binding decisions between real products in the laboratory environment
METHODOLOGY
We intend to conduct a study in which we will ask the participants a series of questions regarding
their willingness to pay on select products between opposing consumer brands among different
categories. This series of questions would be a list of multiple choice questions in which we will
show a particular brand of a given product and ask the participant to select the most likely price
they would be willing to pay for that brand of product out of a set choice of prices. They will be
asked to perform this task multiple time for the same product and for multiple product types and
opposing brands. Each repeat question will contain a different set of answers for prices.
Once this series of questions has been performed and answered by the participant they will be
asked to answer another series of questions, this time with both brands presented for each
question. Under these circumstances the participant will now have to select the price they would
be willing to pay for a particular brand when they have a choice between that brand and the
opposing brand when the opposing brand is held at a constant price. The participant will, again,
be asked to answer this question multiple times over a different set of prices each time while the
opposing brands price is the same in every question. From this we can derive the participant
willingness to pay based on conjoint analysis. It is likely at this point that we will be able to
demonstrate the measurement and robustness of preference orders and reversals when given a
set of mutually exclusive products/brands and then when considering them together.
A number of participants between 50 and 100 participants should be adequate for this study. In
conducting the research, we will want to administer these questions in a questionnaire fashion
and in a controlled environment such as a laboratory or a test room. We plan to obtain each one
of the products in two opposing brands and display them to the participant as we are asking them
questions. The necessary software that will be required will most likely just be a computer as
most of the study will consist of asking the participant this series of questions on a computer
Resources that will be required for this survey will be the participants themselves, a test
administrator, the computer, paper, and pens/pencils to record answers. The control
environment will have to be a quiet place such as the previously mentioned laboratory or test
room and the interviewee will observe the test on the computer screen and use the paper and
A major barrier or pitfall within this research study will be that we will have to address memory
based decision making that typically occurs in these sort of experiments. According to Park and
Hastak a good way to combat this is to ask the participants several other questions while asking
them about the different products and brands such as their purchase likelihoods, cost
consciousness, and more brand specific questions. Another such barrier is that there may be
starting point bias, which can be combatted by selecting the choices of the sums of money at
random. A third barrier in this project might be the cost. It is estimated that the average interview
survey of this sample size can cost between $20,000 and $50,000. A fourth barrier is that the
participants may be biased due to income levels or preexisting brand preferences. Lastly, a major
pitfall to this study is that we will not get to observe the participants real life buying experience
environment.
This will be a relatively straightforward and not really revolve around animal ethics, safety or
human ethics hence, this project doesnt require any involvement as such.
Some travel and fieldwork will be required while conducting this project. One will most likely
need to travel to collect and purchase the survey items and to the interview site to help with
overseeing the project and possibly observe the experiments being conducted.
Also most of the data are accessible in internet and rest we can get from previous research
papers, and some from few textbooks which can be access from the university library.
The proposed study will help determine the competitive contexts among products and project
the order of preference among them. Conjoint analysis will not only be used to determine how
good the product is, but which product is best under a given a set of choices. The controlled
experiment will aid in making better pricing decisions, the repositioning of a product, and save
on research and development costs. Analyzing choices instead of ratings is beneficial because
choices are an integral part of peoples everyday life and are natural manifestations of a
persons preference (Eggers). By using choice tasks with different alternatives to choose from,
where consumers need to make tradeoffs in order to decide. Utilizing multiple choice studies for
determining the willingness to pay of individuals will help determine the true value of a particular
Our methodology will help determine the relative value of one product over opposing consumer
brands. A ranking of preference will be obtained based on our results relating brand to price that
individuals are willing to pay. It is expected for popular brands to command premium prices or
premium market share over opposing consumer brands. The effects of a brand may be largely
influenced by the familiarity and quality of the product, the companys reputation, and feedback
from peers. These are some of the characteristics that will affect the impact of price and the
consumers willingness to pay on select products between opposing brands among separate
categories. It can be expected luxury brands will have a much higher price among other opposing
brands because of their popularity and reputation amongst the industry. For example, an Apple
computer versus an Acer. Apple products will carry a higher price because of their brand loyalty
and recognition amongst the market of computers. The findings from our study can also be used
to make approximate predictions to estimate new product success in a given market (Aggers).
We will be able to gain insight into the effects of varying price points on purchase behavior. It
can be assumed more luxurious brands will have a higher price point, than lower quality brands.
However, store brands provide value for money to customers and higher margin to retailers. Our
study will help determine the category specific factors which affect the consumer preference for
private labels versus national brands (Vakhariya, Shital, and Vilas Chopde, 2011). We will also be
able to determine the true value of a brand in comparison to opposing consumer brands.
Our study is important because it is a way to quantify consumer values associated with different
product attributes. Participants compare products to establish preferences and can then explain
the importance of different attributes. We will be able to use the data in order to obtain objective
insight into consumers using a quantifiable and repeatable approach. The study will be both
efficient and flexible with our current design. Companies will be able to better determine
effective price points for their brands, and most importantly, what consumers want and what