An Examination of Brand Positioning Using QCA and MSDO/MDSO Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to propose methods that contribute to brand management by using qualitative analysis (QCA: Qualitative Comparative Analysis) and MDSO-MSDO approach) and quantitative methods (soft clustering).

QCA is set-theoretic methods based on Boolean algebra. In this study, it is applied to clarify the diversity of individual brand evaluation structures and causal condition.

MDSO and MSDO is an acronym for “Most Different cases, Similar Outcome/Most Similar cases, and Different Outcome”. MDSO is used to identify “the case with the most different evaluation criteria in groups with similar results”, and MSDO is used to identify “the case with the most similar evaluation criteria between groups with different results”. In this study, it applies to the purpose of extracting the subjects which should be examined in detail from the target customers.

However, in the MDSO-MSDO approach, extremely unusual targets may be extracted, and there remains concern that the identified targets should be considered deeply. Therefore, we also propose a procedure for cross examining the extremity of the targets by using soft clustering.