The Value of Product Testing

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Based upon 30 years of marketing

research experience, spanning

thousands of research projects,

I am convinced that product testing

is the single most valuable marketing

research that most companies

ever do. The great value of product

testing is, perhaps, best illustrated

by some of its many uses. It can be

used to:

• Achieve product superiority over

competitive products.

• Continuously improve product

performance and customer

satisfaction (i.e., to maintain

product superiority, especially as

consumer tastes evolve over

time).

• Monitor the potential threat levels

posed by competitive products to

understand competitive strengths

and weaknesses.

• Cost-reduce product formulations

and/or processing methods, while

maintaining product superiority.

• Measure the effects of aging upon

product quality (shelf-life

studies).

• Implicitly measure the effects of

price, brand name, or packaging

upon perceived product performance/

quality.

• Provide guidance to research

and development in creating new

products or upgrading existing

products.

• Monitor product quality from

different factories, through

different channels of distribution,

and from year to year.

• Predict consumer acceptance of

new products.

Companies committed to rigorous

product testing and continuous

product improvement can, in

most instances, achieve product

superiority over their competitors.

Product superiority, in turn, helps

strengthen brand share, magnifies

the positive effects of all marketing

activities (advertising, promotion,

selling, etc.), and often allows the

superior product to command a

premium price relative to competitors.

Most companies, unfortunately,

do very little product testing.

Few companies really u...

... middle of paper ...

...he structure

and mechanics of execution will

vary greatly from product category

to product category. For example,

computer software can be tested,

furniture can be tested, store environments

can be tested, dog food

can be tested, airline service can be

tested, equipment prototypes can

be tested, etc.

Competitive Advantage

The ultimate benefit of product

testing is competitive advantage.

Product superiority is the surest

way to dominate a product category

or an industry. Companies

dedicated to ongoing product improvement

and product testing can

achieve product superiority, and

achieve a competitive advantage of

great strategic significance.

Companies that ignore product

improvement and product testing,

on the other hand, may wake

up one morning to find themselves

on the brink of extinction from a

competitor who has built "a better

mousetrap."

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