Knowing Your Objectives
Given C+R's breadth of product testing experience, we can provide the deep perspective you need, always through a lens of the criteria that must be met for a successful launch/relaunch. Here are some examples of the types of product testing we can handle for you:
- New Product Development - What do consumers think of the product? What do they like and/or dislike? Will they buy it? Does it successfully provide all of the features and benefits that consumers desire? Does it meet the criteria for you to take to market?
- Value Engineering - Today, so many companies are challenged to cut costs in the manufacturing process. It's important to know how the re-engineered product compares to the original. Do consumers like it as much? Do consumers perceive differences? Are those differences good or bad? Will they continue to buy the reformulated product? Will they buy more? Less?
- Competitive Benchmarking - Many of our clients use competitive products as a point of comparison, with the criteria being is my product at least as good as the competition.
We can also help you with clean label initiatives, claims testing, and package redesign.
Expertise Across Many Categories
Our experience in different product categories is vast - we have a long track record of conducting successful IHUTs and CLTs across many product categories, including:
- Beauty/skin care products
- Beverages
- Apparel
- Garden tools
- Home-care products
- Pet food & products [dog food, dog treats, cat food, cat treats, pet supplies]
Much of our consumer product testing experience is involves food and grocery products. Here are just some of the types of food products we have tested:
Canned
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Tomato sauce
- Pizza sauce
- Broth/Stock
Frozen
- Pizza
- Cheesecakes
- Ice cream /ice cream novelties
- Pie
Snack/Other
- Snack bars
- Candy
- Cookies
- Cereal
- Pasta
Our Dedicated Team Sets Us Apart
At C+R, product testing market research is not something we do from time to time - it's one of our core competencies. In fact, we have a dedicated team of professionals who specialize in product testing for our clients. Our research analysts coordinate the entire study with our operations and logistics teams, making sure that every detail is covered to ensure a successful test. One of our biggest strengths when conducting IHUTs is that we are able to handle all the logistics of getting the product into the hands of the respondents. We have a stringent process in place for receiving, storing, re-packing, and shipping products; all you need to do is ship your product to our facility and we'll handle the rest. Packages are triple-checked before being shipped to ensure that the necessary components are included in each participant's shipment [preparation instructions, usage instructions, nutritional information, dry ice, etc.] and that the product will not be damaged during the shipping process. These are all steps necessary for a successful product test.
But, logistics is just part of the equation to a successful product test; analyzing the data correctly is critical and our research analysts work hand-in-hand with our Advanced Analytics Team to make sure that our recommendations are solid. As an example, if we conduct a Penalty Analysis for your product using Just About Right [JAR] scales with liking scores, we combine these scores to determine which product attributes are penalizing consumers' overall liking of the product and which attributes, if adjusted, will have the greatest impact on improving consumers' liking the product. That is, we are able to pinpoint those areas which need refinement, with the goal of moving consumers closer to product trial/adoption. And, we have special analytic techniques that we utilize to help guide decision-making even when conducting product tests with small sample sizes. By using a "resampling" analysis, we can simulate product testing results over hundreds of simulated tests and develop additional measures of how stable the observed results are. These are just two example of how we creatively apply advanced analytics to help your team make insightful, informed decisions.
We Dig Deeper
And, given that C+R has both quantitative and qualitative divisions under one roof, we have the opportunity to bring the quantitative consumer product testing findings to life by incorporating qualitative research. We often recruit participants into discussions to dig deeper into their experiences with the product, providing insightful "whys" behind the numbers. This multi-modal approach really lets us have a greater understanding of consumers' attitudes and learn more about their usage experience, providing a complete road map for next steps prior to launch.
The combination of our resources, experience, and quality-control processes results in great product testing market research for our clients. Let us know how we can partner with you!