Taking the High Road When Researching
High Involvement Products

Quick. What kind of toothpaste will you buy next time you run out? Now, what will be the next cell phone that you buy?

I bet the second question took you longer to answer. There is just so much more to consider. The implication for research: it's relatively easy to play "what-if" scenarios on low involvement products. In other words, understanding the impact of altering product features, packaging, pricing, etc is fairly straight-forward.

It is more challenging, however, to achieve that same level of rigor and precision for high involvement products. The reason: it is more difficult to simulate the decision making process, since it's certainly more complex.

For high involvement products, consumers are rarely making a decision based solely on what they see on the shelf. Rather, they are likely getting guidance from a sales person and even doing their own research. In today's society, where "product knowledge" is so readily available, it is imperative to incorporate this dynamic when researching product development, pricing, product optimization issues for high involvement products.

Using on-line techniques, much of this can actually be replicated quickly and efficiently. Respondents can be presented with additional product/market facts or resources can be made available for those who would use them. For example, a simulated website can include articles, consumer testimonials, faq lists, and even ads to replicate the types of information that may be used in a respondent's unique purchase decision process.

Combining these techniques with traditional discrete choice methodologies allows researchers to play "what-if" scenarios that simulate market response to changing offers as well as competitive shifts to ultimately calculate predicted impact on market share.