Product usage (or product consumption) studies should be thought of as foundational research to be conducted on a periodic basis.

Paired comparison, triangle tests, and product clinics are the primary direct comparison product tests, and there are many variations on these basic research designs. Product testing is one of the most valuable types of marketing research, and it almost always yields actionable information.

As soon as the market even hints at commodity prices creeping up and ingredient or component substitutions enter the realm of possibility, a plan for product testing should be activated.

Product tests are, at their most basic, some of the simplest types of marketing research that can be done. At its core, this is the essence of what I consider marketing research to be: improving products to benefit consumers and companies.

The point is that there are research methods to help you make these decisions with confidence, which is always important but can feel even more critical during harder times when the headwinds are strong. The right insights can help put at least some of that wind back in your sails.

Marketing Research Article: a Quality Promise system helps you establish accountability with your manufacturers and upgrade the quality of your private brands over time.

Product testing is the single most valuable marketing research that most companies ever do. The great value of product testing is perhaps best illustrated by some of its many uses.

The ultimate benefit of iHUTs is competitive advantage. Creating and maintaining a better product is the surest way to dominate a product category or an industry. Companies dedicated to ongoing in-home usage testing can achieve and sustain product superiority.

While this white paper will focus on clinics to evaluate new cars & new trucks, the same concepts & methods can be applied to a wide range of durable goods (lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, & hundreds of other long lasting products).

Product testing requires product managers to commit time and investment. But in turn, it rewards these teams with invaluable insight that can only be gained by putting the product into the hands of customers or potential customers.

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