Creating Mindsets for a Carpet Product – Thoughts on the Practical Effects of Clustering Method
2022
The efforts of consumer researchers to find 'basic groups' in the population was not driven as much by science as by the effort to find the 'magic key' to a product.It was clear in concept tests (about new products), in product tests (how well did a product perform), and in tracking studies (attitudes and practices) that people who bought the same type of product, or even the same product, often differed in terms of who they were.That difference was an obstacle to even better product performance, because the marketer and the product developer were left with two or more groups wanting the product but wanting substantially different variations..If the researcher could discover the 'nature' of the different physical product and then communication desired by a group of targeted consumers, it would be possible to create the best product for each group and communicate what each group needed to here.Such would be the opportunity for better market performance, especially when talented product designers and talent advertising agencies could work together after understanding the range preferences in a population for this same product.The knowledge-specifics about these different 'mind-sets' has a practical consequences of a positive nature in the in the business world. Mind Genomics and the Focus on the EverydayThe discovery of mind-sets for a product or service has been a long, expensive research task, one which deals with high level issues, then brought to the level of the individual product or service through subsequent smaller scale research building off these large studies.One consequence of the size and expense of the studies is that they are buried in the corporate archives, used well or poorly for business purposes, to guide advertising/marketing, and even new product development.The result ends up being little knowledge about these mind-sets that a non-businessperson can access.