Concept Testing is a process of using different type of surveys which can then be used for evaluation in terms of whether a consumer/ buyer would accept the product prior to the launch of actual product in the market. In other words it can be defined as a research which enables us to have a good reasonable understanding of a particular concept’s strength, its weaknesses and shows us factors of improvement of a particular concept.
This basically addresses the situation from a consumer’s point of view whether there is an actual need for the proposed concept or not. This concept testing takes place usually before a commodity is marketed. Concept Testing is a very critical as well as a necessary part of the process for the makers of consumer packaged goods. (In Text Referencing, page 217).
When it comes to the evaluation stage of New Product Development the term concept testing arises in the third phase which is known as Concept Evaluation. Concept Testing also makes a critical addition in terms of its advancement as well as in purifying the conception. As it enables us in measurement of the market share and how much money or revenue the product would generate. It enables us to predict in advance the demand and demonstrates whether the product is actually in a stage where it could be launched or not. The primary purpose of a concept testing is to refine, develop innovative ideas.
And therefore it eventually increases a product’s chances to enter the market successfully without any problems. Suitable Respondents for the concept test In this section, the focus would be on customers who might make or break the deal. The need would be to identify the section of the society which would easily be able to relate to the product. In the case of Virtual Reality Technology, such section would be teenagers, especially between the age group of 13-17 years, as these kids are more inclined towards games and are aware of the trends and latest technologies. The company can collaborate with gaming parlors and gaming zones to showcase its product. It can organise exhibitions, give demonstrations on how this Virtual reality technology works and thus obtain first hand feedback from people who will be actually using it.
And also as my profile within the company is designing and therefore the interviews would be conducted by asking the persons who will play an active role in terms of decision making process whether a product will be bought and the product’s potential improvements (In Text Referencing). Basically those people who are into technology, who have a detailed understanding of it as they can give us a detailed understanding on the product’s strength, its weaknesses as well as in what ways the product can be improved. In order to specify these people we can talk about users who have used similar products for example Samsung Users when Samsung partnered with Oculus VR to co-develop the Samsung Gear VR which is compatible only with Samsung devices or users who have played the virtual reality 90 seconds football game where they must score as many goals while using their heads to get points. (https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-explores-the-world-of-mobile-virtual-reality-with-gear-vr) Concept Testing Procedure to achieve the aims The concept testing procedure is the initial stage which includes: 1) A Concept Statement – This basically talks about the core purpose of the product, the uniqueness of the product, it talks about the benefits that the product offers to the customers and what makes it different from other competitors.
Appendices
Concept Statement – The core purpose of Oculus Rift virtual headset is to transform the virtual reality landscape. Virtual Reality (VR) is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. Unlike traditional user interfaces, VR places the user inside an experience. Instead of viewing a screen in front of them, users are immersed and are able to interact with the world of 3D. The uniqueness of this concept lies within the fact that it has not been tapped yet, and most of the organisations are still in the development stage only. Moderator’s Guide for focus groups: http://www.focusgrouptips.com/moderator-guide.html A guide is very critical for all the moderators be it experienced or be it a beginner moderator.
Therefore a standardised moderator’s guide include the following aspects: Objective – Identifying potential improvements to the concept, identifying appropriate strategies in terms of pricing, marketing etc and also identifying the strengths as well as weaknesses. Brief Respondent Profile – The W rule as it stands for when and where the interviews would take place – As most of the concept testing occurs through the medium of personal contact which includes conducting interviews within a group situations (focus groups). (In Text Referencing) Similarly the response situation for the concept testing of this product would be held on a one on one basis/ directly interviewing. As with the help of personal contact the one who is conducting the interview (the interviewer) gets to answer questions and also gets to talk about certain aspects that are not very clear of that particular product. (In Text Referencing).
It is often considered that the use of focus groups is excellent as well as beneficial as it allows how to react to others and then further leads to how the product can be used. And therefore when it comes to the location of conducting it we need to think about the respondents as well. For example we need to make sure that the respondents are comfortable with the location while expressing their views and thoughts. Another important aspect when it comes to location is making sure if the location would fit 9 to 10 respondents as well as the co-ordinators where they can all view with each other.
And the last aspect when it comes to the location is keeping in mind if the location can be accessed easily for example keeping in mind the respondents or co-ordinators with certain disabilities, keeping in mind their safety, if there is car parking or is the transportation easily available etc. And this would be held in the CIT Campus Reid on the 21st May, 2018 at 10:00 am. A short introduction – In this section the co-ordinator will be introduced and then would thank the participants for coming over, I Rahul Gulati working as a designer for testing activities in the company Oculus and I will be co-ordinating the our discussion today. And then will talk about the focus group guidelines where I will be asking you for your contribution in different ways on our research of virtual reality headsets.
The discussions will last for an hour. Please feel free to express your views or recommendations even if it is different from one another. And all the information will remain confidential and this information will be further used for testing The best way would be if you all speak one by one and then I will be audio-recording as well as making notes of it as I don’t want to miss any information on it. And then asking the participants to introduce themselves among the group by saying their names.
Topics and an activity based on questions and answers – I will be covering topics based on awareness, use of the product and the behaviour of buyers when buying the product. Timing: Topic Minutes Introduction 5 Minutes Experiences they have had in the past 15 Minutes Use of the Product 15 Minutes Considerations buyers make when buying the product and recommendations on its improvement 15 Minutes Closing 10 Minutes Total 60 Minutes/ 1 Hour The first activity involves asking the participants to brainstorm the positive as well as negative experiences, disappointments they have had in the past with the Samsung Gear VR or with the virtual reality football game. Asking them why they decided to buy such products as in what influenced them in order to buy it, what are some of the important aspects an individual looks for when purchasing a virtual reality headset.
This will bring out different thoughts as well as different reflections based on their past experiences and then ending the discussion by discussing the virtual headset reality’s strengths, its weaknesses and in the end asking the participants to discuss additional information as in what ways the product can be improved and who would be the target market and giving a SWOT Analysis as well and based on their past experiences how the headset can be transformed to a legitimate landscape with 360 high definition graphics, how this particular product will draw the attention of the consumers and how it would have a competitive edge over its competitors. And then at the end how to close it – I will be offering a chance to all the participants if they would like to make any additional comments as it will ensure if we have missed any critical aspect and then would thank them for their inputs, whatever we have discussed in this room today will remain confidential and if they would like to be involved in any future research related to it so that the product can have a great impact among the market then I would request them to note down my contact details. http://eventshouse.co.uk/virtual-reality/vr-experiences/ Justification of Concept Testing Procedure:
Limitations of Concept Testing:
- It becomes difficult to identify what is being measured – As it is quite common that there are certain aspects involved in concept testing for example the product idea, positioning strategy, language as well as the graphics of the entire concept.
- It is believed that by some that concept testing should be limited to the product idea (Stanton, et al. 1991), whereas it is believed by some that the concept testing as in the entire thing should be tested including the product idea, strategies, languages as well as the graphics of it. (Page ; Rosenbaum, 1992)
- Changes in the marketplace – Changes in the marketplace for example if the rules, regulations, legal requirements are changed then there will be a negative outcome as the introduction results will be different from the results of the test. (Moore, 1982)
Another limitation of concept testing is changes in the concept – It is seen that if there are amendments within the concept it therefore results in difficulties as it becomes quite hard to know if the changes within the concept have affected the final results of the product or not. (Moore, 1982) Limitations of Product Testing: There are considered to be plenty of limitations of concept testing but the most important one’s have to be the cost of it, as well as competitor awareness.
Expensive
It is often seen that companies while testing their product concept generally rely of focus groups. And that means relying on focus groups is often considered an expensive process as these focus groups actually cost a lot of money from the companies perspective as they end up paying quite a big amount of money to them. There is one more reason to why it is considered as an expensive process and that is many organisations ensure that their employees are working full time and long hours and generally spending a lot of time on the concept testing as the employees’ wages cost quite a lot to the company and keeping in mind companies end up paying them on penalty rates or at overtime rates. 2) Competitor Awareness – Competitor Awareness is considered to be another limitation of concept testing.
For example organisations are always at risk when their competitors are trying to know more about their particular product. It is often seen that many organisations are trying to learn as well as trying to know more about their competitor’s product within the market. And they end up doing this with the help of what different type of business strategies their competitors are using and on the basis of how their competitors are marketing their product. An example can be seen where suppose if the time involved in concept testing is a bit long then this actually gives their competitors ample amount of time to research and then actually develop their own products. And after they have known about their competitor’s particular product they can then roll out their products as early as possible.
Time Consuming
Another limitation of concept testing is that it is time consuming.
As most of the organisations often spend most of the time in concept testing because a lot is at stake for these organisations. And another factor is from the consumer’s perspective that they also take some amount of time to get to know about a particular product’s availability within the market which is another time consuming factor
