Model-based segmentation of BIB consumer liking data of high-fatigue products

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The design of new products for consumer markets has undergone a major transformation over the last 50 years. Traditionally, inventors would create a new product that they thought might address a perceived need or want of consumers. The products tended to be developed to meet the inventors' own perception and not necessarily that of consumers. The social consequence of a top-down approach to product development has been a large failure rate in new product introduction. By surveying potential customers a refined target is created that guides developers and reduces the failure rate. Today, however, the proliferation of products and the emergence of consumer choice has resulted in the identification of segments within the market. Consumers were originally segmented on demographics but the proportion of disposable income has increased so much for people in the developed world that choice is now based upon liking rather than having the financial means. Therefore, to build successful products it is essential to understand your target market. Typically a product category assessment is performed, where 12 to 30 commercial products are tested with consumers to create a preference map. Every consumer gets to test every product in a complete block design. Products that have been designed for a theoretical average consumer are usually positioned in the middle of the road and do not attract strong consumer liking. The application of cluster analysis to these large consumer studies of category liking is now well established and it is know that there are several classes of products that do not lend themselves to existing approaches. These tend to be 'high-fatigue' products. These include beverage alcohol products; intensely flavored products, like coffee or chocolate; and highly seasoned products, like salsa or curry. This project will see the development of methodologies that will permit the application of clustering to a wide range of difficult consumer products, including high-fatigue products. The resulting methodologies will be of significant benefit to the industrial partner and their clients. and, more generally, to the Canadian economy.