The changes occurring in new product marketing and business management that will require significant changes to Simulated Test Market (STM) models are addressed. Specifically, current STM models are not well suited for the future marketing world of one-to-one consumer targeting nor the changing retail environment. Nor are they well adapted to the increasing granularity with which businesses are managed - at the SKU level, at the individual store level, week by week. As the world changes, all current forecasting models will begin to break. A blueprint addressing the current limitations of STM models is provided.
This paper presents the results of the first large-scale parallel-testing program in the United States between central location (mall-intercept) and Internet interviewing. The research is significant because it demonstrates contrary to the conventional wisdom in the United States that the Internet can be used for research on mainstream fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) products. The key as we will show is to recruit a demographically representative panel from what is presently a non- representative population and then to calibrate the responses of that panel through extensive parallel testing.
This paper focuses on how consumers and fast moving consumer good markets are changing in Western Europe and North America. We examine the impact of brand proliferation on category purchase dynamics, assess the durability of consumer interest in new brands in the face of this proliferation, and weigh the implications of these shifting tides for Simulated Test Market models.