Reveal True Consumer Preferences. Measure Relative Importance.
Having respondents rate the importance of various factors is a common research method, but it often results in respondents marking many items as important, which can complicate the prioritization of strategies. The MaxDiff (Maximum Difference Scaling) approach addresses this issue by requiring respondents to make clear trade-offs, allowing for the effective prioritization of a large list of options and providing insights into the relative importance of each option.
Key Insights Gathered:
- Hierarchy of preferences
- Segment or audience comparisons
- Feature optimization
- Opportunity and improvement of features
- Trade-off analysis
- And more tailored metrics!
How It Works:
- In the MaxDiff approach, respondents are presented with a series of questions where they choose their “best” and “worst” options from a randomly selected subset of the total options (e.g., 5 out of 20).
- This makes each question simple and intuitive for respondents, as they are only focusing on a manageable number of choices at a time.
- The resulting dataset is analyzed to generate a “utility score” for each option, indicating its relative importance within the entire set of choices.
- Utility scores are comparative, enabling insights such as an option with a score of 20 being twice as important to consumers as one with a score of 10.
- By compelling respondents to make concrete choices and trade-offs, this method more accurately mirrors real-world purchasing decisions than basic importance ratings do.
Key Benefits:
- Quickly Identify Most and Least Important Features or Messaging: Pinpoint exactly how your customer prioritizes and makes trade-offs.
- Compare Against Subsets of Audiences: Understand how certain groups or segments can value some attributes more than others.
- Guide Product Development or Marketing: Learn what features or messaging can be used in the most impactful way.
- Strengthen Your Competitive Position: Delivering on the most important features or aspects can enhance customer satisfaction, leading to increased loyalty in the market.
MaxDiff scaling is a powerful tool for uncovering clear insights into consumers’ stated preferences and priorities. By requiring respondents to make trade-offs, it delivers actionable data that traditional rating methods often fail to provide. Whether you’re optimizing product features, fine-tuning marketing messages, or identifying opportunities for growth, MaxDiff ensures you focus on what truly matters to your audience. With its ability to deliver precise, comparative insights, this method is an essential asset for businesses looking to make data-driven decisions and stay ahead in a competitive market.
Why Choose Prodege?
Our tailored MaxDiff analysis identifies and tests key attributes to reveal the most impactful consumer benefits and enhance your sales strategy. Backed by over 25 years of industry expertise, Prodege’s Insights team collaborates closely with you to holistically understand your objectives, empowering your business to prioritize what consumers value most. You can also run a MaxDiff analysis with our DIY survey tool, Pollfish. Find out more about Pollfish here.
Written by Matt Herndon and Kaly Kasarabada
Bridget Tirella
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