RECREATE HOW CONSUMERS PERCEIVE PRODUCTS

NEW MATHEMATICAL PROCEDURE CAN RECREATE HOW CONSUMERS PERCEIVE PRODUCTS

Wayne DeSarbo of Penn State's Smeal College of Business has developed a new mathematical procedure that can recreate on a computer how consumers perceive different products. It simultaneously depicts the competitive market place, brand rank, and consumer attitude in a map, as well as deriving the market segments that underlie them.

When it comes to marketing products -- especially softdrinks -- marketing experts try to establish a product's place, rank and attitude among consumers when positioning the product, explains DeSarbo.

"Unfortunately, all the models for portraying product positions to managers are grossly deficient for simultaneously depicting these aspects," says DeSarbo. DeSarbo's new mathematical procedure will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Marketing Research.

Some terms defined:

Place -- means the product/service needs to occupy a position in the mind of the consumer.

Rank -- implies that this same product/service needs to have associated with it in the consumer's mind an evaluation of it vs. its competitors on a list of important attributes and features.

Attitude -- denotes that consumers need to develop some notions of intentions to buy or preference towards this same product/service.

DeSarbo is the Smeal Distinguished Research Professor in Marketing in Penn State's Smeal College of Business.

Wayne DeSarbo is at 814-364-2568 (home office) or 814-865-8150 (college office) or e-mail at wsd6@psu.edu. For a copy of the paper, contact Steve Infanti in the Smeal College Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or smi3@psu.edu.