Unveiling Consumer Insights: The Power of Conjoint Analysis in Market Research

What is conjoint analysis?

In market research, conjoint analysis is a commonly used market research method. We use this method to understand how consumers evaluate different attributes of products or services, and can show consumers' preferences for certain product attributes. Through this method, we can identify which features have the greatest impact on consumers' purchasing decisions, so as to help companies optimize product design, pricing strategies and marketing.

Basic principles of conjoint analysis

The core of conjoint analysis is to combine different attributes of products or services and evaluate consumers' preferences for these combinations. This principle is actually very easy to understand. For example, we often see such advertising slogans in advertisements: mobile phones have super long battery life, super large screens, and super fast operation! These are the selling points of mobile phones and the attributes of the mobile phone. These attributes are combined to meet the needs of users and increase their desire to buy.

Usually, conjoint analysis includes the following steps:

Determine attributes and levels

First, we need to define the key attributes of the product or service. For example, for a smartphone, attributes may include brand, price, screen size, camera quality, etc. For skin care products, common attributes include moisturizing, whitening, anti -aging, repair, etc.

Any product has its own key attributes, which may be product-related features that users pay special attention to, and may have a great impact on whether customers buy the product. Each attribute has different levels, such as the price can be $500, $700 , or $900. Generally speaking, price is also an important factor affecting consumer decisions.

Design a survey

Create a questionnaire that contains product configurations with different attribute combinations. These combinations can be generated through full combinations (each level of each attribute is combined) or partial combinations (randomly selecting partial combinations).

For example, in skin care products, functional attributes include moisturizing, whitening, anti-aging, repair, etc.; packaging containers include glass bottles, plastic bottles, cans, and tubes; prices include $100, $200, $300, and $400. We can combine these attributes to produce different skin care product attribute configurations, thereby inferring and evaluating user preferences for product attributes.

For another example, for a laptop, we can design the following questions based on the attributes of brand, CPU, screen size, memory, and price, so that users can choose the option that best matches their needs:

Collect & Analyze Data

Questionnaires are our means of collecting data, and participants are usually asked to rate or select each combination. After we collect the questionnaires, we collect the target consumers' preference data for different product combinations through questionnaires and analyze these data. This part of data analysis is very important. We use these data to understand user preferences and guide subsequent product sales.

Generally speaking, we use statistical methods (such as regression analysis) to analyze the collected data to calculate the degree of influence of each attribute and its level on consumer preferences. These results are usually expressed in utility values. The higher the utility value, the strengthen the consumer's preference for the attribute.

Using the free questionnaire platform SurveyPluto can help us quickly create joint analysis, distribute questionnaires, view questionnaire data in real time, and generate analysis reports. There are also a variety of questionnaire setting components and questionnaire styles for users to choose from, which is very Convenient and powerful!

Predicting market response

Based on the analysis results, we can predict the performance of different product combinations in the market, so as to help companies develop more effective product strategies.

Advantages of conjoint analysis

In-depth understanding of consumer preferences: It can reveal consumers' true preferences for product attributes and help companies make data-driven decisions.

● Optimizing product design: By understanding which attribute combinations are most popular, companies can better design and adjust products.

● Improving marketing effectiveness: Help companies develop more targeted marketing strategies and enhance market competitiveness.

● Cost-effectiveness: Compared with traditional market research methods, conjoint analysis is usually more cost-effective and can obtain effective data in a shorter time.

Application areas

At present, we can see that conjoint analysis is widely used in many fields, including but not limited to the following industries:

● Consumer goods: Help companies understand consumers' preferences for food, beverages, home appliances and other products.

● Automotive industry: Analyze consumers' preferences for car brands, models, functions and prices.

● Medical industry: Assess patients' preferences for drugs, treatment plans and medical equipment.

● Tourism and hotel industry: Understand customers' preferences for travel packages, hotel facilities and prices.

We can see that the application range of conjoint analysis is very wide, which also proves the importance of this analysis method for business development from the side.

Conclusion

Conjoint analysis is a powerful tool that can help companies gain a deeper understanding of consumer needs, optimize product and service design, and improve market competitiveness. We should be good at using this analytical method to help us gain the upper hand in decision-making in the market and gain greater benefits.