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Product Design Research

Overview 

Marketor℠ is a research and analysis service provided by IPR that clients use to address a wide range of product planning and marketing questions. Some of Marketor℠'s applications include: 

  • Determining the mix of product features and pricing that will maximize market potential.
  • Evaluating the likely impacts and possible responses to competitive new products.
  • Uncovering the customer segments offering the best opportunities for different products.
  • Determining which product features are "must haves" for success and which are merely "nice to haves."
The fundamental building block of Marketor℠ is a database of detailed information on customer preferences. The database, which is designed to meet the specific planning needs of the client, is created using an innovative end-user surveying technique. We believe this surveying technique has advantages over other approaches to gathering customer preference information, especially in situations where there is a large number of product features in need of investigation. Respondents who take part in a Marketor℠ survey demonstrably become engaged in the process, even enjoying the experience of arriving at a better understanding of their own preferences. Engaged respondents provide more reliable product preference information. 

Marketor℠ includes an analysis model that leverages the customer preference database to deliver concise and rich answers to clients’ questions. The basic concepts underlying the model are straightforward. Each customer is assumed to have a unique preference structure: analysis takes place at the individual respondent level. The working hypothesis is that customers (and respondents) choose those products that incorporate the mix of features generating the greatest value for them, net of cost. These feature values, which are not directly observable, are computed with an IPR methodology that uses the information gathered through the Marketor℠ survey. 

To cite one example in which Marketor℠ was recently used successfully in the design of a high-technology product, the preference study led to the development of three distinct models at different price points with features that are likely to produce high-volume acceptance based on the survey responses. In addition, it led to a consensus among internal groups, including finance, product planning, product management, engineering, and market research, increasing the efficiency of the client's product development process.