Perceptual Mapping Techniques

Perceptual Map
Need 2
+20
Bu

SONO

SELF

SEMI
SUL
I
SOLD

Pr
Hi

-20

+20

Si

SALT
SUSI

SIBI

Ot

SAMA

-20

SIRO

Need 1

Semantic Scaling
Research Illustration

How sweet is your ideal cola ?

How important is it to you that a cola
have the proper sweetness ?
How closely does brand X match to
your ideal sweetness ?

Very=4

Somewhat=3

Not much=2

Not at all=1

Semantic Scaling
Large samples (typically)
Survey-based methodology

A priori selection of attributes

Unimportant attributes get low ratings

Important attributes may be overlooked overlooked

Limited rating scale

Constrained upper & lower ratings

Gradients may not adequately differentiate
Implicitly assumes linear relationships

(Relatively) easy understand & apply

Conventional Mapping
Snake Chart
Describes it
completely
|
|
0
1

|
2

|
3

Does not
describe
it at all
|
|
4
5

1.

Company provides adequate insurance coverage for my car.

2.
Company will not cancel policy because of age, accident
experience, or health problems.
3.
Friendly and considerate.
4.

Settles claims fairly.

5.

Inefficient, hard to deal with.

6.
buy.

Provides good advice about types and amounts of coverage to

7.

Too big to care about individual customers.

8.

Explains things clearly.

9.

Premium rates are lower than most companies.

10.

Has personnel available for questions all over the country.

11.

Will raise premiums because of age.

12.

Takes a long time to settle a claim.

13.

Very professional/modern.

14.

Specialists in serving my local area.

15.

Quick, reliable service, easily accessible.

16.

A good citizen in community.

17.

Has complete line of insurance products available.

18.

Is widely known name company.

19.

Is very aggressive, rapidly growing company.

20.

Provides advice on how to avoid accidents.

Conventional Mapping
Snake Chart
Describes it
completely
|
|
0
1

|
2

|
3

Does not
describe
it at all
|
|
4
5

1.

Company provides adequate insurance coverage for my car.

2.
3.

Company will not cancel policy because of age, accident experience, or

health problems.
Friendly and considerate.

4.

Settles claims fairly.

5.

Inefficient, hard to deal with.

6.

Provides good advice about types and amounts of coverage to buy.

7.

Too big to care about individual customers.

8.

Explains things clearly.

9.

Premium rates are lower than most companies.

10.

Has personnel available for questions all over the country.

11.

Will raise premiums because of age.

12.

Takes a long time to settle a claim.

13.

Very professional/modern.

14.

Specialists in serving my local area.

15.

Quick, reliable service, easily accessible.

16.

A good citizen in community.

17.

Has complete line of insurance products available.

18.

Is widely known name company.

19.

Is very aggressive, rapidly growing company.

20.

Provides advice on how to avoid accidents.

Perceptual Map
High Price

G
Low C
Quality

A
D

B
F
Low Price

High
Quality

Perceptual Map
High Price

G
Low C
Quality

E
U
L
VA

D
B

F
Low Price

High
Quality

Perceptual Map
High Price

G
Low C
Quality

A
D

B
F
Low Price

High
Quality

Ideal Points
Customer perceptions
Aggregation of individuals
Distributions around points

Different shapes
Optimal points, vectors

Segment variations
Evolutionary progression
Nice to have => Must have

Preference Models
Ideal points (individuals)
Clusters (segments)
Proximity (preference)

Perceptual Map
High Price

A
2

Low C
Quality

B
1

F
Low Price

High
Quality

In general ...
Most of a brands sales will come from the
segments with the closest ideal points
Most of a segments sales (share) will go
to the brands closest to its ideal point

Targeting Strategies
Direct hit
single product right on

Bracketing
multiple products surround

Tweeners
single product splitting the difference
to induce a new segmentation

Multidimensional Scaling
(MDS)
Rank pairs of products (brands)
by degree of similarity
A is more like B than B is like C

Statistically reduce the data to a

2-dimensional mapping
Usually a black box application

Judgmentally interpret the axes

Multi-dimensionally
Mix of art and science

Beer Market
Perceptual Mapping

Old Milwaukee

Budweiser

Meister Brau

Miller

Becks

Heineken

Coors

Strohs

Michelob

Old
Milwaukee Light

Miller
Lite

Coors
Light

Beer Market
Perceptual Mapping
Full Bodied
Old Milwaukee

Heavy

Budweiser

Meister Brau

Good Value

Popular
with Men

Miller

Becks

Heineken

Special
Occasions

Coors

Blue Collar

Dining Out Premium

Strohs

Michelob

On a
Budget

Pale Color

Old
Milwaukee Light

Miller
Lite
Light

Coors
Light

Less Filling

Popular
with
Women

Beer Market
Perceptual Mapping
Regular
Heavy

Full Bodied

Popular
with Men

Special
Occasions
Good Value

Blue Collar

Dining Out Premium

Budget

Premium
Popular
with
Women

Pale Color
On a
Budget

Light

Light

Less Filling

Beer Market
Perceptual Mapping
Regular
Heavy

Full Bodied
Old Milwaukee

Budweiser

Meister Brau

Good Value

Popular
with Men

Miller

Becks

Strohs

Budget

Heineken

Special
Occasions

Coors

Blue Collar

Dining Out Premium

Premium

Michelob

On a
Budget

Pale Color

Old
Milwaukee Light

Light

Miller
Lite
Light

Coors
Light

Less Filling

Popular
with
Women

Beer Market
Perceptual Mapping
Regular

Old Milwaukee

Budweiser

Meister Brau

Miller

Becks

Heineken

Coors

Strohs

Budget

Premium

Michelob

Miller
Lite

Old
Milwaukee Light

Light

Coors
Light

Multidimensional Scaling
Smaller samples (than semantic scaling)
Very high cost methodology

Requires extensive interpretation

By definition, results are equivocal

Conventional wisdom: more precise

How does anybody know?

Separate effort to juxtapose preferences

Derived from brand rankings
Joint space maps

Conjoint Measurement
Pairs of tightly defined alternatives
Reduced attribute set
Specific attribute values
Orthogonal arrays

Computed utility weights

Based on pairwise preferences
If added, reflect original preferences
Basis for inferences re: attribute importance weights

Conjoint Measurement
Smaller samples (than semantic scaling)
Very high cost methodology

Requires extensive interpretation

Highly complex, hardly intuitive

Basis for strong insights

Potentially dangerous if used literally