Views from the Hills by R. E. Stevens, GENESIS II (The Second Beginning) E-Mail views@aol.com

Acceptability & Theme Support

Recently a reader of Views asked about testing techniques utilized in the narrowing of physical attribute candidates of a new product. He was working on a brand new product and wanted to ensure that his choice of visual attributes such as color, odor, form, etc., all worked to the advantage of his new brand. As he stated, he would have liked to be able to afford to conduct a concept and use study for all alternatives. The cost of such an approach would be prohibitive.

My suggestion was to use an attribute screening method called "Acceptability and Theme Support." The object of this design is two-fold. First, to identify within each physical attribute the alternative that is both acceptable and enforces the concept or theme. And second, to deliver these results economically. The procedure is intended for screening and narrowing down a field of candidates, that is, eliminating the unsuitable ones rather than choosing the best one. Since we are in a selective or choice mode, a paired comparison is the format of choice. With multiple candidates, the round robin design is most appropriate with special attention given to the Deviation from Subtractivity in the analysis. For economic reasons, a spot test protocol would be the environment of choice.

It is desirable to keep the "Acceptability and Theme Support" components of the design separate. However, if cost is of concern, each participant can participate in both the "Acceptability and Theme Support" portions of the test providing no participant sees the same candidate in both portions. Basically if a respondent is participating in both portions of the study, he/she will see one pair in one portion and a completely different pair in the other.

The overall acceptability is measured using either a degree of preference rating or an absolute satisfaction rating for both alternatives. The "Theme Support is measured by a direct sensory connotations test in which the participant is asked to associate one of a pair of alternatives with the Theme.

It has been my experience that all too often the aesthetics of a brand are evaluated for acceptability or appeal and little or no thought is given to the appropriateness of the choice relative to the positioning of the brand. In this day of heavy competition and little brand differentiation in efficacy, we need all the help we can get from the other components of a brand such as physical characteristics (aesthetics and form), packaging, communication and promotion.


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