MARKDEF: A METHODOLOGY FOR UNDERSTANDING COMPETITIVE SPACES BASED ON CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS

Abstract

The study proposes and empirically tests a new model for delineating product markets—MARKDEF. In MARKDEF product market definitions are analytically obtained using consumer perceptions. MARKDEF provides important diagnostic capability. It not only enables one to gain insight into the overall similarity/dissimilarity of products but also the attributes which account for these. In particular, MARKDEF gives a measure called the overall index of deviation which reflects the overall degree to which two products differ from each other. In addition, MARKDEF provides a measure of deviation on each attribute for the products under consideration, which aids in understanding the attributes responsible for differentiating the products. MARKDEF is supported in the product class investigated, namely candy bars. Attempts are made to validate the methodology by comparing the results obtained from MARKDEF with those of other standard procedures like multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis, and it is demonstrated that MARKDEF has good overall validity.