• Conjoint Index
• Conjoint introduction
• Conjoint design
• Conjoint analysis types
• Conjoint demonstration
• New product development
• Pricing research
• Brand price trade-off
• QSR Simalto
• Market model demo
• Quantitative research
• Market research basics
• Case studies
• Technical notes

Hierarchy of needs studies

In new product development, concept testing and building marketing messages it is important to know what customer priorities are for development or marketing communications. Often businesses have a long list of potential product benefits and the key is in identifying which work best with which audience.

Our specialist hierarchy of needs studies allow you to test up 40 or 50 benefits in one go, both singularly and in packages so you know where customer priorities lie. These are designed to be very quick and simple to carry out, but to produce market models that allow you to see how combinations of options compare against each other.

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Hierarchy of needs

In product or marketing development it is common to face a situation where a new concept has been brainstormed generating 30-40 different ideas for possible inclusion leaving questions over prioritisation and which will have the most impact for customers, and the multiple choice of which to combine.

In our hierarchy of needs studies we take these priorities and get customers to rate and rank them in such a way that we can look at where the priorities lie, but also produce market models to show how different sets of needs can be combined to generate the largest share of preference in the market.

A common approach to this task is by simply asking what is important. The problem is that for many customers everything is important. The following chart shows a list of benefits ranked by importance. You will see there is no discrimination between the top 10 items.

However, when you look at the data revealed from the hierarchy of needs preference approach there are clear distinctions between the different benefits. In particular, benefit 11 is actually more important than first thought because this is particularly important to one subgroup.

A hierarchy of needs study produces output similar to that of conjoint analysis, but is far quicker and simpler to carry out. The main benefit over conjoint is the ability to look at the presence or absence of different items and the value of items in combination - go, no-go decisions as opposed to more complex attributes and levels of conjoint.

In simple terms it is a bit like choosing what range of dishes to offer on a menu for customers. Diners want a choice, but the business want to optimise that choice so it appeals to the most people and meets the most needs without leaving left overs.

For instance is a which of these combinations of options is most valued by the market and how many Would Not Buy (WNB).

Share	30%	45%	25%
	Fresh Salad	Fries	WNB
	Pasta	Fish
		Tomato

If the menu is changed, what's the impact on WNB, what option gets the most take up. For instance subsituting steak for fish.

Share	30%	57%	13%
	Fresh Salad	Fries	WNB
	Pasta	Steak
		Tomato

This type of packaging and combinations is common in marketing and category management to build the right portfolio of products with the right marketing messages offering key product benefits from the selection of all that are possible.

For help and advice on carrying out hierarchy of needs or other trade-off projects contact info@dobney.com