Using a survey of the market, you measure the image of your company and your key competitors using a series of image "attributes." These "attributes" are dimensions measuring such items as "speed." "low prices," "courtesy," "high tech," "accuracy," etc. You also measure how each company rates on a "best for people like me" scale. This enables you to calculate the relative importance of each attribute by establishing the mathematical relationship between the attributes and the "best for people like me" scale.
You can then plot the performance of each company and importance of each attribute in two-dimensional space. A typical plot would look similar to the below. Each letter represents one company.
After you have plotted the importance and performance ratings, you can begin to formulate a "desired image." In doing so, you need to consider several things:
• Your competitive position on each attribute,
• Whether your "strengths" are recognized in the marketplace,
• Your corporate mission,
• Your perceptions of how feasible it would be to move an attribute in perceptual space,
• The uniqueness of your desired position.
Suppose you are company B. Your though process might go something like this.
"My company is highly accurate, and we could move to the right of company A on accuracy with the right advertising campaign. However, accuracy is the lowest attribute in importance, so the benefit would be limited. We won't worry about promoting accuracy."
"All five companies are about tied in consumer perception of speed, and we all do rather well, so there isn't much potential benefit there. Scratch speed."
"Our rating on high tech is pretty good, but I could still move up perception on that. Let's check out the other two attributes before we make a decision."
"There seems to be a lot of opportunity to improve on low price. Nobody does well on this attribute. We are more efficient than our competitors, and could afford to lower price a little. I don't want us to be viewed as being "cheap," but we could do better on this attribute."
"Look at the opportunity on courtesy. We know we have high customer satisfaction scores -- and it's the most important attribute. There's our opportunity."
From this train of thought, you may decide to develop a campaign with a theme like the courteous service you deserve, at a price you can afford. If your campaign is successful, the next time you measure image the plot may look like the one below. Notice how company B has moved to the right (toward the high performance side of the scale) on the two most important attributes.
Some other Applications of Perceptual Maps in Marketing
Product research – Distinguish between heavy, medium, and light users of a product in terms of their consumption habits and lifestyles
Perception/Image research – Distinguish between customers who exhibit favorable perceptions of a store or company and those who do not
Advertising research – Identify how market segments differ in media consumption habits
Direct marketing – Identify the characteristics of consumers who will respond to a direct marketing campaign and those who will not
Assessing strengths and weaknesses relative to competing brands along certain criteria important to the customer.
This is revealed by the positions of the marketer's brand and competing brands along the axes.
Identification of competitive advantage for the brand
Perceptual maps show differentiation among products in the customer's mind.
For example, in a perceptual map representing the car market based on two dimensions, “conservative “ vs. “sporty” and “classy/ distinctive” vs. “practical/affordable,” Porsche will probability be seen as the classiest and sportiest of the cars in consumers’ minds, providing the brand with a strong competitive advantage. Assess opportunities for new brands, as well as for repositioning existing brands.
Identifying market opportunities
Empty spaces near an ideal point (meaning an attractive market segment) on the perceptual map represent potential market opportunities.
See how ideal points are moving
In addition, perceptual maps show how ideal points shift as markets mature, and therefore a brand might shift its positioning in order to retain or gain a competitive advantage.
Sources:-
1) http://www.busreslab.com/
2) http://www.marketintelligences.com
Submitted by:-
Karanbir Singh
12141
Marketing
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