Write Winning Product Concepts To Get Accurate Results In Concept Tests

Summary: Concept testing is a very valid approach to measure the appeal of products and services, but when it is not well designed, this type of research tends to yield general information that is not strong and granular enough to support decision-making.

4 minutes to read. By author Michaela Mora on September 7, 2021
Topics: Price Research, Brand Research, Concept Testing, Market Research Cartoons, New Product Development

Writing Wining Product Concept Tests

How to write winning product concept tests? It requires more work than companies sometimes are willing to do.

A while ago, I received a survey from a trade association exploring my interest in online marketing research courses, which I assume they were planning to offer. I was a little surprised to see the simplistic concept test approach they used to explore not only my interest but also the price points at which I may be willing to buy one of their courses.

Concept testing is a very valid approach to measure the appeal of products and services, but when it is not well designed, this type of research tends to yield general information that is not strong and granular enough to support decision making.

The first step in concept tests is to develop product concepts that clearly describe the “reasons-to-believe” in the product and touch on the experience the customer may have with it. The best source for good product concept descriptions is the potential customer himself. This is a case, where exploratory qualitative research can bring a lot of value by uncovering what is important to customers and what language they use to talk about the product.

A Bad Example

I wonder if the trade association that sponsored the aforementioned survey did its homework in trying to identify what features are really important to potential end-users of the product being tested.

The image below is a snapshot of how the concept was presented in the online survey. Of the four features described in the concept, the only one I found appealing is the 24/7 accessibility. The other three are quite vague and somewhat irrelevant.

Why does it matter if the courses will have 3 to 8 hours of total instruction if I don’t know the length of each class or module? Is it 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes? My work schedule and home life may only allow me to sit for 20 minutes at a time to attend an online class.

I quite frankly don’t know what they mean by “comprehensive instructions.” Are the classes task-oriented? Will I need to do a lot in preparation to take the class? I associate the word “instructions” with manuals, so when I read this I feel weary already. Who has the time to read manuals nowadays?

Concept Test Example

“Dynamic interfaces” doesn’t tell me much either. A more concrete example would have helped to set my expectations. The image they use doesn’t have any indications of what “dynamic” changes may occur.

Without any guidance, my expectations could be too high. Consequently, this can lead to a big disappointment if the courses are not on par with my notions of what a dynamic interface is in this context. A short video tutorial showing how this will work would have provided a better illustration of what the user can expect from the interface.

The most important feature of all for the target audience (which I represent) is the actual course topic. Alas, this is absent from the product concept.

You may say, well, there are many topics of interest and we only want to test interest in the format. To which I would respond that the format is irrelevant if the topic is not of interest.

The approach followed here doesn’t really reflect how the end-user thinks about this product.

If the topic is the most important feature in buying an online class, then excluding it creates an artificial product concept to which is difficult to give an accurate answer. When they asked about my interest in these courses, my only response was “might or might not.”

How to Write Concept Tests

To write winning product concept tests:

  1. Conduct qualitative research with members of the target audience. Avoid “inbred” concepts based only on input from internal staff and untested assumptions– A few interviews with marketing research professionals would have provided a richer and more realistic foundation on which to base the concept for online marketing research courses.
  2. Create concepts that are concrete and put them in relevant contexts – An online course on a particular topic would allow a more realistic response. A video could show what to expect from the ”dynamic interface.”
  3. Write concepts in the target audience’s language – No “instructions” please!
  4. Focus on Reasons-to-Believe arguments that highlight what is important to your audience – I need more than 24/7 accessibility to assess the value of this service. Topics are a good start.

As you can see, to write winning product concept tests, we need to invest in thinking time and user feedback. This survey also attempted to measure price points that end-users are willing to pay for the online courses. However, I don’t think the pricing research approach they used gives the association the most bang for their buck. For more on this check Making The Case Against The Van Westerndorp Price Sensitivity Meter.

For this particular case, an approach like conjoint analysis would have been a better research design to answer questions about appealing of product features, benefits, and pricing for this product concept.

To learn more about our Product Concept Testing services visit Product & Price Research.