What has really happened over those ten years? Does the contribution of the techniques outweigh the limitations of unresolved methodological issues? What is the evidence of practical marketing application? And how far does Europe lead or lag behind the USA? Without any pretence at a thorough technical evaluation, this paper attempts to provide at least partial answers to these questions. However, its desirable, first to recapitulate - necessarily briefly - what nonmetric multidimensional scaling is all about and second, to set its marketing application in an historical perspective.
The project discussed in this paper set out to investigate the potential of non-metric multi-dimensional scaling techniques in studying the basis of competition between stores. The intention was to experiment to provide guidance for further projects which would investigate inter-store competition in greater depth. The study concerned itself with seven stores each of which sell a range of ladies clothing. The stores are contained within a newly developed shopping centre at Amstelveen on the outskirts of Amsterdamand are only a short walking distance from each other.
Within the context of brand image measurement, this paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of two methodological procedures selected for their widely different approaches towards the measurement problem. More specifically, spatial configurations derived from attribute data, a procedure requiring a pre-specification of the image dimensions, are compared with maps obtained from non-metric multidimensional scaling of similarity data, a procedure not requiring such a pre-specification. Systematic variation is introduced both in data collection instruments and space reducing techniques. The basic finding is that of a substantial level of convergence between the results obtained by means of the two measurement methods. Finally, the paper discusses the conceptual, methodological, and managerial implications of such a finding.
The paper commences with a brief discussion of the factors which influence the use of multidimensional techniques in market segmentation studies, and the required conditions for successful use of them. An example is quoted from the magazine field, where a study, limited in objectives after substantial discussion, indicated clearly market opportunities and product form. The merits of non-metric multidimensional scaling are then discussed, together with major disadvantages, and examples given of the application of this technique to specified marketing problems.