Primary Market Research

1
Primary Market Research

• Market Data Model

2
Overview

• What do we communicate?
• Expected, exciting, revealed information
• Kano 2-dimensional survey
• Questions, scale, examples
• Applications
• Product planning, focus groups, surveys

3
What We Communicate

• We expect that people who share common
  experiences and history also share common
  information about those experiences. Common
  knowledge allows us to communicate clearly yet
  efficiently.
• At work, school and at home our discussions tend
  to be concrete, focused, practical, and
  real-world oriented informing people of
  activities, objectives, status and plans. Only
  with the right people, in the right circumstance
  will we talk about issues that excites us our
  hopes and dreams, wild and impractical plans.
• Dr. Kanos research provides insight into the
  tools used to gather market data, the information
  obtained with these tools and our interpretation
  of this information.

4
Expected Characteristics

• Roughly
• Common sense, common knowledge,
• Too obvious to talk about unless asked
• Basic features necessary for product acceptance
• Example Customer comment during a focus group,
  Id use it on my stove. The customer expects
  (but may not say explicitly) that the device
  wont burn or melt during use

5
Revealed Characteristics

• Roughly
• Practical, reasonable,
• Everyday topic of discussion
• Incremental refinements to a product design
• Example an elderly chef reveals that a larger
  handle, shaped to their hand and constructed of
  yielding material would reduce fatigue and
  discomfort (e.g. OxoTM kitchen products)

6
Exciting Characteristics

• Roughly
• Radical, unknown concepts,
• Too outlandish to talk about unless asked
• Radical innovation for new product concepts
• Example business people were asked if being able
  to point a small spot of light across the room
  would be useful. They were excited about using
  such a device for presentations (e.g. Laser
  pointer new application for laser diodes)

7
Practical Considerations

• Do perceptions of whether a characteristic is
  expected, revealed or exciting change over time?
• Yes power assist brakes, voice post-its and
  self-cleaning ovens used to be exciting - now
  theyre expected
• Do perceptions of whether a characteristic is
  expected, exciting and revealed differ from
  person to person?
• Yes knowledge, needs and experience shape each
  persons perceptions. This question is closely
  related to the issue of market segmentation

8
Practical Considerations

• Is there a systematic, reliable way of to
  identify characteristics as expected, exciting or
  revealed?
• Yes Dr. Kano developed a two-dimensional
  survey that works very well.
• What is learned from Dr. Kanos research?
• Theoretical basis for the use and development of
  focus groups, surveys, interviews, etc.
• Improved primary market research, product
  planning, service delivery, etc.

9
Kano Survey Questions

• Kanos 2-D survey uses question pairs of the
  form
• The product HAS feature X. How do you feel?
• The product LACKS feature X. How do you feel?
• Kano 2-D survey is constructed from two 1-D
  surveys
• Kano survey scale is typically
• I like it
• It should be that way
• I dont feel anything
• There is no other choice
• I dont like it

10
Analysis Matrix
Row Sum
Column Sum
11
Examples

• The Airline Hostess (Revealed)
• The Voice Output Thermostat (Exciting)
• Quick-Release Wheels (Expected)

12
Customer Centered Design

• Product planning tools (e.g. Quality Function
  Deployment) systematically integrate marketing,
  engineering, design, information and
  perspectives
• Driven by product requirements and the importance
  of these requirements to customers
• Product requirements - features, performance,
  appearance, operation are obtained through
  customer focus groups and interviews
• Requirement importance is obtained through
  customer surveys

13
Product Requirements

• Expected Requirement
• Basic and necessary, features and capabilities
• Product fails in the market if an expected
  requirement missed
• Revealed Requirement
• Incremental/evolutionary product refinement
• Maintain or grow market share
• Exciting Requirement
• Revolutionary product innovation
• Great business opportunity, rapid market growth

14
Focus Groups

• Expected and exciting issues are often unspoken
  during a focus group unless a specific question
  is asked. Revealed issues can still be
  overlooked on chance
• Implication
• Market and technical research should be conducted
  to identify candidate (expected, exciting,
  revealed) issues
• Focus group scripts should be prepared based upon
  this research
• Focus group moderator should refer to this script
  in order to ensure that all exciting and
  expected issues are probed

15
Surveys

• Market research and product planning typically
  employ 1-dimensional surveys that are inherently
  misleading
• Implications
• 2-dimensional surveys should be considered when
  establishing the importance of product
  requirements
• 2-dimensional surveys should be considered when
  establishing market interest or preferences
• Not quite this simple - many other issues beyond
  the current discussion

16
Related Issues

• Questions, Comments, Suggestions