Research Services
Product Testing research
Know Your Objectives
Are you preparing to launch a new product into the marketplace? Maybe you need to redesign an existing product to cut costs, better compete with another brand, or meet clean labeling standards. Or maybe you want to evaluate a new product on ease of use or ease of storage before launch.
Whatever the case, our product testing specialists can get you the consumer insights you need before your product heads to market. At C+R, helping clients launch market-changing products is one of our favorite things to do.
New Product
Development
What do consumers think of your product? What do they like and dislike? Will they buy it? Does your product provide all the features and benefits that consumers desire? Does it meet the criteria to take to market?
Value Engineering
Today, so many companies are challenged to cut costs in the manufacturing process. It’s important to know how the re-engineered product compares to the original. Do consumers like it as much? Do consumers perceive differences? Are those differences good or bad? Will they continue to buy the reformulated product? Will they buy more? Less?
Competitive Benchmarking
Many of our clients use competitive products as a point of comparison, with the criteria being, “is my product at least as good as the competition?”
product testing
Expertise across
many categories
Our experience in different product categories is vast – we have a long track record of conducting successful In-Home Usage Tests (IHUTs) and Central Location Tests (CLTs) across many product categories, including:
- Food and grocery products, including frozen
- Beauty/skin care products
- Beverages
- Apparel
- Garden tools
- Home care products
- Pet food & products (dog food, dog treats, cat food, cat treats, pet supplies)
- Durable goods – Appliances
- And a whole lot more
Our Approach
Our Dedicated Team
Sets Us Apart
At C+R, product testing market research is not something we do from time to time – it’s one of our core competencies. In fact, we have a dedicated team of professionals who specialize in product testing. Our research analysts coordinate the entire study with our operations and logistics teams, making sure that every detail is covered to ensure a successful test.
We Manage the
Entire Process
One of the things that sets us apart when conducting IHUTs: we can handle all the logistics of getting products into the hands of respondents. We have a stringent process in place for receiving, storing, re-packing, and shipping products; all you need to do is ship your product to our facility, and we’ll handle the rest.
Packages are triple-checked before shipping to ensure that the necessary components are included in each participant’s shipment (preparation instructions, usage instructions, nutritional information, dry ice, etc.), and products won’t be damaged during the shipping process.
We also specialize in placing very challenging products that require installation, plumbing/electrical changes, etc.
From Logistics to
Analysis
Logistics is just one part of the equation for a successful product test; analyzing the data correctly is critical. Our Research Analysts work together with our Advanced Analytics Team to make sure our recommendations are solid.
- As an example, if we conduct a Penalty Analysis for your product using Just About Right (JAR) scales with liking scores, we combine these scores to determine which product attributes are penalizing consumers’ overall liking of the product, and, which attributes, if adjusted, will have the greatest impact on improving consumers’ liking of the product. This approach allows us to pinpoint areas that need refinement, with the goal of moving consumers closer to product trial/adoption.
- We use special analytic techniques to help guide decision-making, even when conducting product tests with small sample sizes. By using a “resampling” analysis, we can simulate product testing results over hundreds of simulated tests and develop additional measures of the stability of observed results.
We Dig Deeper
Given that our quantitative and qualitative divisions are under one roof, we can bring quantitative consumer product testing findings to life by incorporating qualitative research. We often recruit participants into discussions to dig deeper into their experiences with a product. These discussions can uncover some of the “whys” behind the numbers. Our multi-modal approach grants us a greater understanding of consumers’ attitudes and usage experiences, providing a complete road map for next steps prior to launch.
Our resources, experience, and quality-control processes result in powerful product testing market research.
Proven Experience
featured product testing
examples & case studies
