Abstract:

The extent to which a product matches a concept plays a critical role in the success of new product introductions. For instance, if a new fragrance is to be introduced under a brand name with supporting imagery, it would be useful to know whether the fragrance itself is compatible with the concept. A fragrance that smells like freshly cut wood might not match particularly well with imagery built around an ocean breeze. Or it might, depending on the imagination and experience of an individual consumer. Differences among individuals as they relate products to concepts should be considered in order to study possible consumer clusters. In this report we discuss a method that simultaneously locates individual, concept, and product perceptions in a perceptual space obtained from the analysis of commonly used product-concept fit tests.