Views from the Hills by R. E. Stevens, GENESIS II (The
Second Beginning) E-Mail views@aol.com
Accepted Category Beliefs -- Reveals Real Opportunities
Recently when giving a presentation on "Keeping the Pipeline Full,"
I mentioned the concept of "Accepted Category Beliefs" as a way to uncover
new ideas. It wasn't until after the meeting that I became aware of the
level of interest in the research idea.
The method is very easy and fast to execute, leading to a number of
ideas for category improvements. The basic concept deals with uncovering
the consumer's negative impressions of product categories. For example,
you might find consumers saying the following:
All detergents take the color out (of the fabrics). Bleaches are unsafe
on colored fabrics. Dishwashing detergents cause red and rough hands. Paper
towels fall apart when they get wet. Facial tissues irritate your nose.
Disposable diapers leak at night. Disposable diapers cause diaper rash.
Shampoo leaves hair unmanageable. Furniture waxes leave a film. Laundry
detergents can't get stains out.
The above resulted in brand changes that were considered to be major category
shifts. These category failures are easily identified. We (at P & G)
would use "Accepted Category Belief" research as a tag on to many projects.
Frequently we would have test participants who were waiting to be interviewed
fill out a "While you are waiting" questionnaire. These questionnaires
would focus on many questions that were being asked but were not important
enough to justify a test of their own. For example, one or more of the
questions on the questionnaire would be as follows.
Complete the following statement(s):
What I dislike most about laundry detergent is ___________________________.
What I dislike about shampooing my hair is ______________________________.
I wish the makers of disposable diapers would make a diaper that would
______.
This approach to new ideas is good for uncovering evolutionary category
changes and matches up well with the negative Brand Share" method aimed
at brand improvements. The "Negative Brand Share" method was covered in
my Views of October 17, 1994.
NOTE: For those interested in links to various market research
information sources, try the new web site "http://www.MR-online.org."
Among the many links supplied by this source is a link to all of the Views
from the Hills of Kentucky that I have written.