To build perception maps, the marketer uses. Positioning map. Hypotheses for Perception Maps

Positioning begins with the selection of criteria. Various criteria and indicators are used to evaluate the benefits and benefits for consumers. These can be consumer features of the product, its distinctive features in relation to a certain competitor product, the advantages offered by the product, etc.

So, for example, F. Kotler identifies seven criteria for product positioning:

  • 1) importance, i.e. significance for the consumer;
  • 2) originality, i.e. uniqueness compared to competitors' products;
  • 3) superiority in relation to competing products;
  • 4) availability of acquisition;
  • 5) the advantages of the first move, making it difficult to quickly copy;
  • 6) acceptability, i.e. the ability to pay;
  • 7) profitability, i.e. economic benefit.

When positioning a brand, experts identify other criteria:

  • - the core value underlying the brand;
  • – brand promise, i.e. the main benefit that he promises to the consumer;
  • – rational brand benefits, i.e. what will the consumer get by acquiring the brand;
  • – emotional benefits of the brand, i.e. consumer feelings when choosing a brand;
  • – description of the brand through personal characteristics (for example, friendly, open or strict, serious).

Positioning can be based on one or more criteria:

  • – based on one criterion (for example, best quality, best service, lowest price, etc.);
  • – based on two criteria (price and quality; reliability and durability, etc.);
  • – based on three criteria (price, reliability, ease of use).

The selected positioning criteria can be more fully disclosed through a set of different indicators. Such indicators can be identified as a result of a survey, market testing, focus groups, expert opinion, etc.

So, in the case of positioning copiers, the criterion was chosen - the importance for the consumer, which was determined using 16 indicators obtained as a result of a consumer survey. These are: copying speed, availability of scaling, number of colors, copy format, copy cost, monthly copy resource, price, energy consumption, work on paper of any density, brand awareness, quality and reliability, delivery speed, possibility of buying on credit, warranty and post-warranty maintenance, service life, and other characteristics (availability of consumables, print quality, ease of use, dimensions) (see box "Case Study - Positioning Copiers", page 83).

Building a Perceptual Map

One of the possible means for determining the position of a product in the market are perception maps (positional maps), the axes of which are the main values ​​of consumers. A perception map is a way of representing the positioning process using multiple performance metrics. It characterizes the preferred combinations of benefits that consumers are guided by when choosing a particular product (Figures 2.3 and 2.4).

Rice. 2.3.

Positioning map

The simplest way to determine the company's position in the target market segment is the method of building a positioning map. Positioning map - a two-dimensional matrix in which competing enterprises are represented. When searching for the position of an enterprise in a target market segment, one of the varieties of a positioning map is most often used - a perception map.

A perception map interprets the positions of all businesses in the market in terms of their perceptions by buyers. It is based on the results of in-depth marketing research aimed at understanding how buyers perceive a trading company, what characteristics of the product range and services, as well as elements of the company's image, in their opinion, are most important.

Building a perception map involves the following procedures:

1. Determining the degree of significance of various characteristics of a trading service and image elements from the point of view of representatives of this target segment. This information is collected by asking target buyers about their evaluation criteria when choosing between different purchase sources.

2. Choice of two positioning variables. To do this, use a variety of methods for ranking the significance of the characteristics of a trade service and elements of the image, for example, a scale of importance; calculation of the weighted average assessment of the significance of each of the characteristics; constant sum method when. 100 points are distributed among the characteristics, with the most important of them receiving more points, etc. Positioning variables are presented either as an integral indicator (for example, the range of goods, the quality of sales service, store design, etc.) or as a separate functional or the emotional characteristics of a trading service or an image element (for example, the breadth of the assortment, the number of additional services, the cleanliness of the trading floor, the color scheme of the interior, etc.).

3. Determination of options for the values ​​of positioning variables. The values ​​of the selected positioning variables can be expressed quantitatively (for example, the time spent paying for purchases at the cash register: option 1 - up to 1 minute, from 1 to 3 minutes, from 3 to 5 minutes, over 5 minutes; option 2 - 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes) or qualitative indicators (for example, the music background of the trading floor: option 1 - classical music, pop music, music from cartoons; option 2 - loud music, quiet music).

4. Determining the values ​​of the integral indicator or individual characteristics of the trade service and elements of the image for each competitor based on the study of the opinions of target buyers about these characteristics of competing enterprises.

Building perception maps is useful for any enterprise to understand its position in the target market segment compared to competitors. They help create more realistic and effective marketing programs. Perception maps are indispensable when revising the company's position in the market. In this case, the map shows not only the positions of competing enterprises, but also the position of the enterprise itself.

Before deciding on its own positioning, the company needs to determine the position of competitors.

We will make a motivated choice of variables for positioning based on an assessment of the degree of importance (significance) for buyers of the characteristics of landline phones (phone type, address book memory, answering machine duration, speakerphone, backlight color), using the primary data of application No. 2. We will make a motivated choice for two selected earlier segments.

Initial and resulting data on the importance for buyers of product characteristics and other marketing factors are presented in Appendix No. 7.

In order to select the correct one from the calculated significance coefficients of the characteristics, we calculate the significance threshold. The correct significance factor will be as close as possible to the threshold of significance.

Significance threshold is calculated by the formula:

where: n is the number of product features.

In our case, n=5. Then the significance threshold is 0.2.

For product positioning, those product characteristics are selected for which the significance coefficient is maximum and exceeds the significance threshold. But having considered the parameters and this is the type of video camera and the price, it is clear that the competitors in this case fully satisfied the needs of buyers. For this reason, it will be advisable to consider the second most important characteristics.

Based on the calculated significance threshold, we determine that the most important characteristics will be: autonomous operation and color of the video camera.

In our case, two position variables are selected. Therefore, for subsequent analysis, it is advisable to use a graphical representation of information in the form of a positioning scheme for competitors' products. Having determined the preferences of buyers - members of the target segment about the ideal combination of two product characteristics - positioning variables, we draw up a positioning map of consumer preferences (Appendix No. 8).

The positioning of video cameras of firms is based on a comprehensive analysis of the results of the positioning of competitors' products and consumer preferences. For this, the schemes of consumer preferences and positioning of competitors' products (Appendix No. 8) merge into a summary (Appendix No. 9).

The analysis of the summary diagram will allow you to choose one of the following two solutions (positioning strategies):

1. Position the company's product next to the product of one of the competitors and fight with it for market share. Such a decision must be subject to the presence of one or more of the following conditions:

§ the company can bring to the market a product that is superior in its most important characteristics to the product of a competitor;

§ the capacity of the segment is large enough to accommodate the company along with existing competitors;

§ the company outperforms its competitors with available resources and will be able to defend its interests in case of aggravation of competition. This position is particularly in line with the firm's business strengths and capabilities.

2. Position the company's product away from competitors' products by finding a "gap" or "niche" in the market segment. The prerequisites for making such a decision are:

§ the existence of a fundamental opportunity for the company to bring the corresponding product to the market;

§ the availability of economic opportunities for the company to bring the corresponding product to the market within the planned price level;

§ the presence of a sufficient number of buyers of the goods for the company to receive the planned profit and capture a significant share of the segment.

When analyzing our consolidated positioning map, we got a “niche”, in which there is a sufficient number of buyers (15%) so that our company does not incur losses and can get the planned profit. Since we will position our product away from the products of competitors' firms, we choose a unique positioning strategy.

Based on this positioning map, we determine that it would be appropriate to bring the product to the market, which will be blue, and the battery life will be up to 1 hour. With remote control, matrix resolution over 1.2 MPix, Flash format, with sound, cost from 5001 to 10000 rubles. These are the requirements put forward by buyers who are in our "niche". The same indicators must be used in promotions on television, stands, magazines and so on.

A positioning map, or rather a perceptual map, is a convenient way to visualize the target audience's understanding of the key attributes of the market's products. In marketing, a positioning map is used to visually show exactly how the average consumer perceives the positioning of competing products. And also in order, knowing the actual state of affairs, to formulate the correct vector for the development of positioning and draw up an action plan to achieve the target positioning of the product.

In the article, we will look at what types of perception maps exist, how to properly use this tool in practice, and give a clear example of possible product perception maps.

Why do we need a perceptual map?

The positioning map will help you visually understand how all existing brands of the market are located in the mind of the target consumer, and realistically assess the competitiveness of the product. One of the main advantages of using a positioning map is the ability to easily find a free market niche and secure the company's product in it, significantly differentiating itself from all competitors.

Each product of the market occupies a certain place on the positioning map. Accordingly, by arranging all the goods in the right cells, you can find the most competitive segments and unoccupied free niches. But it should be remembered that the perception map is just a convenient method of visualizing information about consumer perceptions, and it is one of the last steps in developing a positioning strategy.

Perceptual map types

There are 2 main types of positioning maps: built using two axes and using multiple axes.

The first method is the most common, as it can be used by any marketer. It consists in placing all the products of the market on two axes X and Y. Such a positioning map is based on only 2 main characteristics of the product, which can be described by two opposites. As a result, 4 quadrants are obtained, in which, based on a survey of consumers, the main brands of the market are placed. It happens that in such cards one quadrant remains empty (unfilled), which represents a combination of incompatible characteristics.

An example of building a toothpaste market positioning map (two axes):

The second method is often used by marketing research agencies to visualize key market segments and is the construction of a positioning map with multiple axes - the possible characteristics of the product. Such maps are built using special statistical programs, do not have clear axes, are difficult to interpret, but help to understand the relationship between the key properties of goods.

An example of building a drink positioning map (without axes):

How to build a perceptual map?

  • Always ask the consumer
  • Look at the facts and do not embellish the position of the company's product
  • Try several alternatives

First, a proper positioning map cannot be built without consumer surveys. Gather representatives of the target audience, lay out all the goods on the market in front of them and ask them to divide them into groups at their discretion, at the end of the grouping ask: why did such groups turn out and are there other options for dividing? Ask to describe each group in detail with adjectives, associations, images. The resulting product groups will actually reflect the current perception of consumers. Based on them, you will clearly understand the key criteria that affect the choice of the consumer and will be able to lay them in the basis of building perception maps.

Second, always face the facts and try not to embellish the position of your product in relation to competitors. Each manufacturer thinks about their product much better than the average consumer. Therefore, listen carefully to the buyer and fix any shortcomings that you can later eliminate.

Thirdly, do not stop at one positioning map, try different combinations of characteristics, look for a map that best describes the behavior of all consumers in the market. It is believed that it is necessary to make at least 5 different perception maps in order to find the best option.

The process of building a positioning map is as follows:

Examples. How to build a positioning map?

Product positioning is a key part of modern marketing.

New products enter the market every day, hundreds and thousands of similar products compete side by side on supermarket shelves.

How to win a large market share and loyal consumers in such conditions?
You need to build the appropriate positioning of your product, which will highlight the key benefits for a specific target audience.

One way to do this is to create a "position map" (or "perception map" as it's called).

A position map is a schematic, visual representation of how potential customers perceive your product in relation to competing products.

The main benefit of this tool is that all products (competitors) are "displayed" together on the positioning map. The target audience compares and contrasts them in relation to each other.

In marketing, positioning map data (perception map) can be used:

  • when developing a strategy for positioning a product or service,

  • identifying attractive market niches for launching new products on the market (to identify existing "gaps" where there are customer needs that are not satisfied),

  • repositioning of existing products,

  • to identify your main competitors and position them,

  • assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the product in relation to competing brands along certain criteria that are important to the consumer,

  • identification of competitive advantages for the brand

After analyzing the received data, the company can position its product so that it fills the discovered free niche in the market or decides that it will compete with other products.

Building a positioning (perception) map

Here is an approximate principle for creating a position map.

Step one

To build a positioning map, usually 2 x and y lines are used. The x-axis goes from right to left, the y-axis goes from bottom to top.

Any two characteristics of the product that are significant for the potential audience are used as variables, for example, variables:

  • price and quality,
  • price and comfort
  • necessity and luxury, etc.

step two

Once both criteria are selected to evaluate the position or perception of competing products, data must be collected to place competing products on the positioning map.

Data for the positioning map (perception map) is obtained by the method of quantitative and qualitative research, the results obtained from field studies, focus groups, interviews, target audience surveys, etc.

Step Three

Placement of competing products on the positioning map depending on the received research data.

Step Four

Interpretation of the received data. This is a very important step, for example, when developing a strategy for launching a new product on the market, errors in the interpretation of the positioning map, and, accordingly, incorrectly chosen positioning can affect the success of sales. There may be new questions that will require additional research and analysis.

Positioning map (perception map). Example

See our position map example. It is created based on the preference of our team.

Everyone has their own brand map. And these preferences can extend to all goods and services. And they did not arise immediately and by themselves, this is the result of the company's work.

Although one person's perception of, for example, the quality or price of a product is different from another, there will nevertheless be certain similarities. And as one of the well-known marketers put it, "the goal of the company is to stake out a site in the brain of the client."

Positioning maps should be used more for diagnostic purposes, the data obtained should be analyzed and confirmed by other studies. Launching a new product based only on perception map data is risky.

For example, the criteria chosen for evaluation may not be significant when choosing a product. Also, other important variables may fall out of the analysis, by which consumers can evaluate products, and you did not take into account their influence on the choice.

Another weak side of the map: you got a positioning map with empty niches, but this does not always mean a new positioning opportunity.

Look at the map above. There was an empty niche with a combination of characteristics such as "low quality and high price." A product with this combination is not needed. A company marketing a product in this unoccupied niche can lose a lot of money.

And here is another example of a positioning map (perception map). Here we see an unoccupied niche: high nutritional value and good taste (the map is fictitious).

It may be worth considering this segment for the launch of a new product, further analyzing the real and potential needs for the product in order to be sure that there will be a demand for this product.

In conclusion, here are some tips from Jack Trout, one of the authors of the "Positioning" concept.

  • If you want to impress a person, you can't crawl into their mind like a worm and then slowly and systematically create a favorable impression of yourself.
    Consciousness is arranged differently. In order to make an impression, you have to break into the mind. The reason why you should break in and not crawl in is because people don't like to change their minds. From the moment they begin to perceive you in a certain way, they will not want to change their opinion of you.

  • Today, when a company stumbles, it immediately hears the breath of competitors behind its back, because in modern business they don’t walk, they run. To recover lost business, a company has to wait for others to fail and then try to figure out how to use this situation.

  • What makes a company strong is not its product or service, but the position it occupies in the minds of consumers.

  • A simpler and more important goal is to increase your market share, not profit. Once a market appears, your number one goal is to dominate it. Too many companies are looking to make a profit before they can establish themselves.

  • The attack on the leader should be carried out on the narrowest possible front, preferably with a single product or service.

  • The inability to predict the reaction of competitors is a major cause of marketing failures.

  • Without a change in product or service, price or distribution method, any strategy will be a meaningless stream of words.

  • Sometimes you can ignore small competitors. But the moves of larger competitors must be taken seriously, especially if they are much bigger than you. First and foremost, you have to evaluate what will happen if they succeed.

You may also be interested in our article

Denis Fedorov k. e. n., early Marketing department of the company "Mobile Tips"

Product positioning is one of the most important stages in the development of a company's marketing strategy. The general concept of positioning, first substantiated by E. Rice and J. Trout, assumed that in conditions of excess supply, consumer perception, as a rule, is not able to effectively perceive the next new product or service. In order for the consumer to be able to fix a new product in his mind, it is necessary to make room for it by generalizing and, accordingly, consolidating his knowledge of similar goods and services. At the same time, it is important to combine in his mind all similar products into a single group, convincing the consumer that the differences between the elements of this group are insignificant, and to present or oppose this group with a new trademark in the "cleared space". To prevent new information from being regrouped by the consumer at his own discretion, it is important to associate it with the satisfaction of his most important needs. And finally, only by clearly and concisely conveying to the consumer the most important aspects of a new product or service, one can hope that they will remain steadily in his oversaturated mind.

To do this, it is important to clearly define the market positions of existing products of competitors and your own product, to determine their similarities and differences, which allows you to identify the advantages and disadvantages of a particular market position.

The market position of a product is the opinion, first of all, of a certain group of consumers, target market segments, regarding the most important properties of the product. It characterizes the place occupied by a particular product in the minds of consumers in relation to the product of competitors. The product must be perceived by the target segment as having a clear image that distinguishes it from competitors' products.

Determining the market position for its product, the company is engaged in its positioning.

Product positioning, therefore, consists in developing a company's selling proposition and its image, aimed at occupying a separate favorable position in the mind of the target group of consumers. In this sense, the company, based on consumer assessments on the market for a particular product, chooses exactly those parameters and elements of the marketing mix that will provide its advantages in the eyes of consumers.

Thus, positioning is primarily a struggle for the consumer's consciousness through marketing tools. However, a product can also be successfully differentiated by attributes that significantly distinguish the product, but are not really related to creating a competitive advantage. It is clear that many companies create and advertise real competitive advantages that differentiate their products, and yet the quality of the image of the product and the marketing means chosen for this are no less important than its real merits.

The end result of positioning a product or service is the successful creation of a market-oriented value proposition: a simple and clear statement of why consumers in the target segment should buy the product. For product positioning, a company can choose one or more product differences that differentiate it from competitors' products. To do this, it is extremely important to find out how the target segment views the products already on the market, whether there are differences between them in the minds of consumers, and in what indicators they currently differ from each other.

Which indicators of differentiation are perceived by consumers as significant, and which - as insignificant? Is there a free position on the market for our product? Where does it stand in relation to competing products? Is this position good?

Obviously, for this it is necessary to make some kind of comparison between existing brands on certain indicators. If we express the end result in a graphical form, this will give us a visual representation of their similarity or difference. The positioning map or perception map obtained in this way will serve as a visual tool for deciding on the positioning of our product or brand.

In many companies, the issue is solved in this way. An arbitrary choice is made, depending on the personal considerations of the marketing specialist, of two or three indicators representing the most important properties of the product, such as price, taste, etc. Depending on the data obtained as a result of a survey of potential consumers that reflect their opinion about the products presented on the market, a graph is built (Fig. 1), which demonstrates the differences between the products of the company and competitors in terms of selected indicators.

Picture 1
Differences between the products of the enterprise and competitors in terms of selected indicators

This approach to perceptual mapping is found in all marketing textbooks. Its apparent simplicity leads to the fact that marketing professionals are not entirely aware of its shortcomings.

Firstly, two main indicators are used to evaluate goods in a two-dimensional plane - taste and price of goods. There is no guarantee that they are the criteria for distinguishing the products of different enterprises in the minds of the consumer.

Secondly, other indicators by which consumers can evaluate products immediately fall out of the analysis. Their influence is not taken into account.

The problem with this approach is that, existing in three dimensions, we can only build a system of objects in one, two, or three dimensions. A larger number of measurements, in our case, indicators that characterize products, can only be described analytically. Therefore, to build a perception map that would not have the above disadvantages, multidimensional scaling methods are used.

Multidimensional scaling is a field of mathematical psychology, and its first task is the analysis of subjective perception. In this sense, multidimensional scaling is an ideal tool for creating a positioning map, which, in fact, reflects the subjective perception by the target segment of certain objects (products or brands) in the incentive space, in our case - positioning indicators, for example, price - taste .

In the general case, the multidimensional scaling method allows one to locate a significant set of object characteristics (n>3) in a space of smaller dimensions, for example, the most convenient two-dimensional or three-dimensional space for visual perception. In this case, a new dimension of a lower order will be expressed in the form of implicit variables aggregating the main properties of the original indicators. A certain part of the information is lost in this case, however, due to some loss of the original information, we get the opportunity to visually observe and compare the location of objects in relation to each other.

In our case, the objects can be trademarks or goods that are evaluated by the consumer according to a certain number of indicators that form a multidimensional space. Using the multidimensional scaling method, the multidimensional space of indicators is reduced to two or three dimensions, while the axes of the two-dimensional space are formed by implicit variables.

The technique of such an algorithm is quite complicated, therefore, at present, the multidimensional scaling procedure is carried out exclusively on the basis of modern software, such as SPSS or Statistica.

The quality of the resulting model, i.e. The quality of compression of the original dimension from the point of view of preserving the original information is most often studied using the S-stress indicator proposed by Takein and RSQ. Without going into a technical description of these indicators, we note that an S-stress indicator close to zero means a good fit of the model, close to one means a low quality of the results obtained. And vice versa, RSQ close to one indicates the high quality of the model, close to zero - about its meaninglessness.

Let's look at an example of using multidimensional scaling to create a perception map and select a product's market position based on it in more detail.

Since the attitude of the consumer to the product or service is assessed in the process of multidimensional scaling, it is obvious that the initial information will be the attitude of the consumer to the marketing mix (4P) of the companies under study, the concentrated expression of which is the final product, i.e. attitude to the product itself, its price, distribution channels and means of promotion. It is these aspects, with varying degrees of detail, which is determined by the specifics of the product or brand under study, that are proposed to be evaluated by potential consumers.

Table 1

Figure 2
Perception map

We have carried out a comparative assessment of retail chains of mobile phone shops in Moscow. The following companies were selected as objects for the multidimensional scaling procedure - retail dealers of equipment and communication services in Moscow: Euroset, Anarion, Techmarket, Mac-Center, Mobile-Center, Mobile Councils, Dixis.

The sample for this study was 650 people, while the permissible deviations should not exceed 6.5%. Persons aged 16 to 65 who use mobile communications and have a mobile phone at the time of the survey (as a criterion for checking membership in the general population) were interviewed. The survey was conducted in February-March 2002.

The following indicators were used as a set of elements describing the 4Rs of these networks:

  • breadth of assortment
  • after-sales service quality,
  • price level,
  • geography of retail outlets,
  • interior and POS materials,
  • means of promotion.

The standard question to the respondent in this context, for example, to assess the breadth of the assortment, was as follows: “Please mark in the table whether, in your opinion, the proposed characteristic corresponds to the quality of the company’s work?” (Table 1).

Processing the responses of respondents - representatives of the target segment of our company (“quality lovers”) - using the multidimensional scaling method, made it possible to obtain the following perception map (Fig. 2).

The map shows a grouping of company brands according to the specified attributes of their activities in two-dimensional space. At the same time, the S-stress indicator was 0.13, and the RSQ indicator was 0.967, which indicates the high quality of the model obtained.

Exploring this relationship for correlation, we get the following table of rank correlations between the attribute and each of the dimensions (Table 2).

The table reflects the correlation coefficients between the coordinates (indicators) of each of the attributes for the specified dimensions and the indicators of each of the companies under study for the attributes. Accordingly, a high correlation coefficient between them indicates a significant contribution of this particular indicator to the meaningful interpretation of the measurement.

table 2

Thus, the first dimension describes the geography of retail outlets, the interior and POS materials, the quality of after-sales service and promotion tools. Substantially, it can be interpreted as the comfort of contacting the company. The origin of coordinates separates companies as generally less comfortable for the client (to the left of the axis) and more comfortable (to the right of the axis).

The second dimension describes such characteristics as the breadth of the assortment, the quality of service, the level of prices and, in some way, after-sales service. Its meaningful interpretation is the overall quality of the services provided to the client. The axis of coordinates divides companies into those providing better services to the client (above the origin) and lower quality (below the origin).

Analyzing the perception map, it can be noted that in the eyes of the consumer, the companies Dixis, Mobile Center, Techmarket and Anarion practically do not differ from each other in terms of the comfort level of contacting the company. Differences in their quality characteristics for these brands are also insignificant, however, it can be noted that Dixis and Mobile Center as a whole, according to the results of the study, are located higher along this axis than Techmarket and Anarion.

Euroset, adjacent to them, seems to customers less comfortable and reliable than this group, although the overall quality of its services in the eyes of the client is slightly higher.

"Mobile Tips" occupy the upper right corner of the map, significantly differing from competitors in terms of the overall quality of the services provided, and in terms of comfort of use and reliability, they practically do not differ from most of them.

Finally, the Mak-Center company, having an approximately average level of quality of services provided to the client, is generally perceived by clients as significantly less comfortable than most companies present on the market.

In general, we can conclude that in terms of the totality of characteristics for consumers, there is no clear difference between the majority of the studied companies from each other, which provides them with significant opportunities for differentiating their product and positioning strategy.

Thus, the use of the multidimensional scaling procedure, in comparison with the traditional mapping of perception, allows you to get a much larger amount of information and provide its meaningful interpretation, which makes it possible to make more effective decisions when developing a company positioning strategy.