This document discusses concept and product testing in marketing research. It covers key topics like the purpose of concept testing, how most new products fail, typical concept test procedures, challenges in concept testing, and the roles of qualitative and quantitative research. The overall goals of concept testing are to improve new products, increase their chances of success, and forecast likely sales. Quantitative research is usually used for launch decisions while qualitative research helps improve products and understand quantitative results.

1. Marketing Research & Social Communication
Lesson 7
Concept and Product Tests
Ray Poynter
1Ray Poynter, Marketing Research & Social Communication, 2015

2. Agenda
1. Chocolate choices
2. New products and services
3. Conducting Concept Tests
4. The challenges of Concept Testing
5. Homework review
6. Quiz and assignment for next week
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3. Which of These Will You Try?
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Later today you will get the chance to choose one, which will you pick?
On the Cards supplied, write A or B.
A B

4. Key Words
• Concept: an idea for a new product or service
• NPD: New Product Development, the process of
creating and launching new products and services
• Purchase Likelihood: How likely are people to
buy the product/service
• Volume or Sales Forecast: Estimate of how
many will be sold/bought
• Screening: Excluding people who are not relevant
to the research
• Quotas: Specification about the sample structure,
for example a quota might be 50% Male, 50%
Female
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5. Why Test New Products
and Concepts?
The range of news products and services
that could be created is very large
But only some products can be created and
launched
– Developing products requires money – i.e.
cost
– Developing Idea A can prevent Idea B from
being developed – i.e. opportunity cost
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6. 80% to 90% of New Products Fail
• Fail = no longer in widespread distribution
after 2 years
– For mass market products
• If most companies have a failure rate of
85%, then they only get 3 wins from every
20 product launches
• If MR can help organisations have a failure
rate of 75% then 20 product launches will
produce 5 wins
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7. What makes a product succeed?
A function of:
A. Distribution, how easy is it to buy the product.
Generally, % of relevant outlets.
B. Advertising, which is a combination of
quantity, quality, targeting, and channel.
C. Promotional Campaigns, for example point of
sale, coupons, trialling, etc.
D. Product, how good is it, how appealing etc
E. The Unpredictable, other brands, other news,
copying/viral activity etc. (AKA as chance / luck)
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8. Most Product and Concept Tests
Focus on the Product
• Helping design/create a better product (or
service)
• Understanding problems with a new
product, and finding solutions
• Picking which options are most likely to
succeed
• Understanding which elements of the
product are most appealing/attractive
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9. Some NPD Work Looks at
Advertising
• What should the advertising message be?
• Evaluating advertising for the new product
• Understanding how new advertising is
working (or not working)
• Assessing advertising in terms of target
groups and channels
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10. Sales Forecasting
• For example Nielsen/Bases
• Looks at
– Distribution
– Promotions
– Advertising
– Product
• Relies on benchmarks and models
• Key factors are Distribution and Volume of
Advertising
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11. Typical Concept/Product Test
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a. Screening: Are these the right people? E.g.
buyers of the category
b. Show Concept
c. Purchase Likelihood
d. Feedback about the Concept, e.g. Likes
and Dislikes
e. Further details, e.g. other concept,
variations, pricing alternatives
f. Demographics, e.g. region, family size etc.

12. Innocent Drinks
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Lots of fruit, no sweetners, no colourings, no
concentrate, nothing added. From ¥250

13. Screener – Innocent Study
Quotas
– 50% Male, 50% Female
– Aged 18 to 35
– Buy bottled/canned soft drinks at least weekly
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Are you?
1 Male
2 Female
Age?
1 Under 18 [Close]
2 18 to 26
3 26 to 35
4 36 to 45 [Close]
5 Over 45 [Close]
How often do you buy
bottled/canned soft drinks?
1. Most days
2. At least once per week
3. At least once per month [Close]
4. Less often / Never [Close]
As well as closing the study for people who do not match the screener,
the quota for Gender needs to be checked.

14. Purchase Likelihood Scale
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If this product were available in your local shops and
vending machines, how likely would you be to buy it?
1. Definitely Not Buy
2. Probably Not Buy
3. Might or Might Not Buy
4. Probably Buy
5. Definitely Buy

15. Likes and Dislikes
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What did you like about Innocent?
Please type you answers in the box.
What did you dislike about Innocent?
Please type you answers in the box.

16. Further Details
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What flavours of Innocent would you most like to try?
1. Strawberry
2. Orange
3. Peach
4. Coconut
5. Apple
6. None of these

17. Alternative Purchase Liklihood
• Five Point scale
• Seven Point scale
• 0-10 scale (10 Definitely, 0 means No
Chance)
• Percentage Likelihood, e.g. 0% to 100%
• Choice sets, e.g. show several products
including the test product and ask which
they would choose
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18. Purchase Likelihood Scale Results
are not a Sales Prediction
• People tend to over-claim during the survey
• Surveys do not take into account
– Awareness
– Distribution
– Whether the products becomes popular
• If it becomes popular people copy
• If it does not become popular, people are less likely to
buy it, even if they like it
• Forecast are usually based on modelling, and
usually other inputs in addition to the survey
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19. Testing the Concept or the
Communication?
• Whenever we are testing a new idea we
are also testing the communication of that
idea.
• If the concept is great and the
communication is poor, then we might
think the concept is poor.
• Analysis of the open-ended comments will
often help us understand if the failure is
the concept or the communication.
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20. Qual and Concept Testing
The main roles for Qual in the development of
new products are:
– Understanding existing unmet needs
– Helping create the concept and the message
– Understanding why a new concept is / is not
working
– Understanding why the messaging is / is not
working and how to improve it
Usually, qual is not used to indicate whether a
product should be launched. The launch
decision usually requires numbers (i.e. quant)
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21. Qual Testing of Concepts
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http://bit.ly/NewMR_114

22. Chocolate
Please choose one of the options on the
desk, A or B
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A B

23. Concept Testing Results
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Homework Cards Choices
A ?
(?%)
?
(?%)
?
(?%)
B ?
(?%)
?
(?%)
?
(?%)
Total ? ? ?

24. The Challenges of Concept Testing
1. Can we communicate the concept?
2. Can people tell us how they will behave?
3. Are we asking the right people?
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25. Concept Communication
• Early stages: sketches, text or animations
• Later stages: advertising materials and
sometimes actual products or prototypes
• Imagine trying to convey products/services
such as:
– Apple Watch
– Google Driverless Car
– Bandalettes
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26. Bandalettes?
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27. Can People Predict
Their Own Actions?
• How many times will you eat Sushi in the
next two months?
• Will you buy a red shirt next year?
• The next time you go to an izkaya, how
many drinks will you have?
• If, the next time you go to a kombini, they
are serving Innocent drinks, how likely is it
that you will really buy on?
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28. Are we talking to the right people?
Sample specification
– For bandalettes, females who get chafing
when wearing skirts
– For Innocent Drinks?
Sample quality / bias
– A good sample is one that is similar to the
population
– A bad sample is usually a biased sample
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29. 1936 USA Presidential Election
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http://bit.ly/NewMR_115

30. Key Words
• Concept: an idea for a new product or service
• NPD: New Product Development, the process of
creating and launching new products and services
• Purchase Likelihood: How likely are people to
buy the product/service
• Volume or Sales Forecast: Estimate of how
many will be sold/bought
• Screening: Excluding people who are not relevant
to the research
• Quotas: Specification about the sample structure,
for example a quota might be 50% Male, 50%
Female
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31. Big Picture
1. The key roles of concept testing are:
a) Improving new products/services
b) Making it more likely they will be successful
c) Forecasting the likley sales of the product
2. Decisions to pick options and to launch or
not launch a new product are usually
made with Quant research
3. Qual research is usually used to help
improve new products or to understand
quantitative results
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32. Before Next Lesson
1. Read Chapter 3 of the textbook
2. Complete the online task for Lesson 8
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33. Questions?
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34. Quiz Lesson 7
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Please complete the quiz sheet
Put your name on the sheet