We’re all at a wine tasting, eating cheese, making contacts, posting pictures on Facebook. We’re having such a good time that no one has noticed the rather large elephant standing quietly off to one side. Perhaps, I should say, some at the party may have noticed, but no one is willing to spoil the fun and point out there is…
Take a questionnaire written last week and place it side by side with one written 20, 30 years ago. Chances are they will look identical. Same logic. Same skip patterns. Same batteries and scales. Same limitations. Even though today’s questionnaire is most likely being programmed on the web, with all the new question formats and controls web surveys offer. Yet…
Choice-based Conjoint is the most often used method of conjoint analysis among today’s practitioners. In commercial studies, practitioners frequently find it necessary to design complex choice experiments in order to accurately reflect the marketplace in which the client’s product resides. The purpose of this paper is to compare the performance of several HB models and LCC models in the practical…
Take a questionnaire written last week and place it side by side with one written 20, 30 years ago. Chances are they will look identical – same logic; same skip patterns; same batteries and scales; same limitations – even though today’s questionnaire is most likely being programmed on the Web, with all the new question formats and controls Web surveys…
ImageQ© is a unique approach to consumer segmentation which offers several advantages over other methods: Consumers are grouped together based not on how each of them perceive various brands but rather on which brand imagery attributes are most important to their individual purchase decisions The most important brand perceptions (as well as the least important) are clearly identified for each…
The MACROModel© is a unique approach to new product screening which offers several advantages over other methods: A large number of concepts (50 or more) can be screened at one time Price sensitivity can be calculated for every new product concept screened First year sales can be estimated for every product concept and over a range of prices Price/volume can be individually optimized for…
In a career that is quickly, too quickly, approaching 30 years in length, I have stumbled upon a series of general principles that have been proven, usually by my not employing them, to successfully guide the earnest analyst as he or she tentatively picks his or her way through that dark and tangled forest that we often refer to as…
Introduction Conjoint models typically provide the “what” but very little of the “why” in customer behavior modeling. Conjoint models may tell the analyst to what degree various product features, a range of prices and/or a variety of brands each affect ultimate product demand but they do not comment on why customers may have been motivated by those features, prices and…
There are two basic approaches to marketing research: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative research involves large numbers of respondents, typically 100 or more, and yields results that are representative of the total population. Qualitative research is generally done in the form of focus groups, that is, groups of six to ten respondents at a time carry on a group discussion which…
Segmentation: The Key to Conducting Successful Segmentation Research The goal of segmentation is to divide the total marketplace into subgroups whose members are similar to one another and different from members of other subgroups. The key to conducting successful segmentation research is to define “similar” and “different” in terms that are relevant to the client’s business. For example, a segmentation…
Prior to founding MACRO, Mr. McCullough was the senior vice president for a leading international strategic consulting and design research firm. Before that, he was market research manager for a $300 million division of Levi Strauss & Company.
Mr. McCullough has spoken before the American Marketing Association, the Marketing Research Association and various universities on a wide range of marketing topics. He is a past board member of the American Marketing Association, San Francisco chapter, and has been quoted in Canadian Packaging Magazine. He has chaired and lectured at applied multivariate statistics seminars for several years and is a member of numerous professional associations.