Abstract:

The paper discusses the reasons why Consumer Panels are among the research techniques considered to be likely to lead in terms of future growth in market research, notably in relation to specialist Panels, increased practical sophistication of data analysis, and in the use of share prediction techniques. The paper goes on to discuss the development of panel prediction techniques from the early experiences of brand share prediction models in the 1960's through to the evolution of simulated market panels designed to maximise the speed with which the repeat purchase potential of a brand is known, whilst minimising expenditure or risk by avoiding putting the product on the open market until its successful potential is confirmed or not. The paper discusses a number of case histories from Sharescale Tests and, in particular, the unique opportunity to relate repeat purchasing to price.