A Constrained Unfolding Methodology for Product Positioning

Abstract

This paper presents a recently developed unfolding methodology for analyzing preferential/dominance data that addresses the product positioning/repositioning decision problem of product (re)design and targeting by relating brand and consumer characteristics explicitly to perceptual brand locations and ideal points respectively. The methodology and associated algorithm are applied to a set of preference data for twelve models of residential communication devices. Various managerial implications of the model for product positioning and optimal product design are illustrated and discussed.

Keywords: Product Positioning, Optimal Product Design, Multidimensional Unfolding, Preference Models