Perceptual Mapping free essay sample

A detailed explanation of how perceptual mapping works, what it does, and what are its critical assumptions †¢An application of how perceptual mapping was used, i. e. , describing an application of the tool in detail, focusing on procedure, calculations, results, and interpretation. Background Branding; is defined by Charles W. Lamb, co-author of Marketing: sixth edition; as a name, term, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies a seller’s product or service and differentiates them from competitors’ products. Perhaps, the successful of many businesses has been attributed to the positioning of a product or service associated to a brand that consumers would easily grasp and differentiate from other products within a category. Understanding how consumers store information in memory is essential in brand development, according to Dawn Iacobucci, editor of Kellogg on Marketing. A product or service â€Å"brand† might have three types of associations: attributes, people, and occasions. â€Å"Attributes are physical characteristics of a product such as its color, size, and flavor. People and occasions together are regarded as image. Most brand positioning involves a combination of attributes and image. Perhaps, consumers typically do not make decisions on the basis of attributes or image alone. Rather they use a combination of both to infer some benefit, adds Iacobucci. A benefit is an abstract concept such as convenience, pleasure, or fun. The rationale for a benefit is the fact that it has some attributes or that certain people use it on particular occasions. An example is how the beer industry emphasize the taste benefit supported by specifying the brand’s choice by showing young adults enjoying it at social gatherings, sports, or at home with friends. Therefore, perceptual mapping has become essential in the development or repositioning of a product or service for any marketing manager. Since perceptual mapping, according to Dr. Zafar Iqbal PhD professor of marketing at DePaul University, is a special representation in which customer perceptions for competitors’ brands are represented in a Euclidean space. Consequently, the use of perceptual mapping as a marketing tool allows marketing managers to identify and visualize a map of the marketplace in which the brands are positioned against one another vying for the spot in which consumers desire the most. Perceptual Mapping In order to create a reliable visual representation of the market input from customers or the target market are key. Perhaps, perceptual mapping provides a visual representation of customer’s perceptions. Consequently, perceptual maps are useful for deciding product positioning or repositioning; comparison between companies’ views of product positioning with customers’ perceptions; or identifying a competitive set(s). To develop the map, at least four focus group needs to be conducted in order to identify which are the attributes of the products or services that are characteristics and relevant. The attributes and products would vary according to the objective of the study. Perhaps, the study could have a strategic positioning or tactical positioning objective. Subsequently, once all attributes are identified, the development and implementation of a survey is essential in order to obtain perception data. The survey would ask consumers using the attribute rating method (AR) and overall similarity method (OS). The AR method would ask consumers to rate a list of attributes for each product or service. Once the perception data is obtained through the survey. Using factor analysis, the data would be reduced without significant loss of information and find systematically underlying patterns and inter-relationships among variables (attributes). Moreover, the use of factor analysis would allow the individual(s) to use the input (brands x attributes) to create a matrix of standardized scores for each brand and attribute, as long as the rotation sums of squared loading of the total variance explained for the second component (attribute) together with the first is equal or above 60 per cent. Moreover, the through factor analysis would provide a rotated component matrix (VARIMAX) for each of the attributes assigning coordinates, allowing the individual to plot each of them into the perceptual map. Additionally, a component score matrix would be posted as two additional columns to the original data, providing coordinates for each of the brands. By plotting the coordinates for both brands and attributes in their respective quadrants, the perceptual map is, simultaneously, being drawn. Hence, other brands could be group by competitive clusters and positioning to which the brand at study could be compared in relation to other base on preference. Moreover, the map would provide good and bad gaps, and recommendations could be made as how to occupy good gaps and avoid to fall into bad gaps base on which attributes or perceptions to improve and/or communicate. Additionally, recommendations can also be made according to which positioning is desire, according to which exact quadrant to move into and exact location on the map. However, the recommendations and positioning strategy are based on a set of three assumptions. Since it is based on a snapshot of costumers’ current perceptions. Assumptions I. It pair-wise distances between product or service alternatives directly indicated by perceive similarities or differences between any pairs. Perhaps, the distance between brands is determined by the perception in the costumers’ mind and whether the products are similar or different from each other. For example, the costumers’ perception of American Eagle clothes is similar to Abercrombie Fitch. Therefore, both brands would be positioned closer than if it is compare with Tommy Hilfiger. II. The attributes, described as vectors on the map, indicate both magnitude and direction. Perhaps, the brands could fall under different points on the preference line. Nonetheless, the magnitude in which one brands is preferred over other cannot be measured nor can be estimated. Every decision would have to be taken by inference according to the map. III. The brands would be positioned according to the coordinates and the place in the axes of the maps would represent or suggest the underlying dimensions (or factors) that best characterize how costumers differentiate between alternatives. The manufacturers or engineers could perceive their product very different from others; however, customer’s perceptions could be very different and associate the product with another one. The table above represent the averages of the responses obtain from the survey, which use a scale from one to seven, one being strongly disagreed and seven being strongly agree. Once the data is collected, based on the perception of individuals for each of the brands and attributes. The following step is, to perform a factor analysis to reduce the data without significantly loosing to much information and systematically find the inter-relationships among the different variables (attributes). The outcome of the factor analysis indicates that the total variance explained with two attributes have a rotation sums of square loading of 66. 78 per cent, which the standard by the industry must be above 60 per cent. The study positioned United Colors of Benetton (Benetton) in the complete opposite position in which Benetton wants to be (See Graph A). The brands that are leading the market that Benetton would like to enter are: Tommy Hilfiger, Banana Republic, and Hugo Boss – listed on order of preference according to the study. These brands have been clustered as the I’m a Young Professional group (See Graph B). Based on the desire of Benetton to reposition itself as the preferred clothing store for young professionals in the United States. Benetton would have to move into one of the three open spaces, in the consumers’ minds, that falls under the direction of preference and the desired position of Benetton. (See Graph C) Based on the desired repositioning of Benetton and its current position, I suggest that Benetton should develop their marketing strategies to position itself into Space A. Since moving into Space B or Space C, which are, at the moment, to far out of the current state that it would be to costly at the moment. Moreover, the marketing strategies should emphasize the following attributes in order to reposition Benetton into a more competitive positioning for the preferred clothing for the U. S. young professional: (See Graph D) Primary Attributes a)Business Casual b)Standard Colors c)Designs On-Edge (i. e. fitting designs, delineate and exalts the body) Auxiliary Attributes a)High Quality b)Delicate c)Premium-price Item By embracing the attributes stated above, Benetton would be able to re-position into a more competitive and preferred market space.