In March 2020, a leading international personal care consumer brand was evaluating where to build a production facility for their next-gen electric shaver. They were deciding between China and Europe, and a difference of €1.5 million in investment was at stake.
One of the deciding factors was to understand the impact that “Made in,” “Designed in,” or “Engineered in” claims can have on purchase preference.
The Solution
The brand engaged EPIC Conjoint to design a conjoint survey where nine different claims were selected by the brand for the study and tested with the target audience.
I find the beauty of EPIC Conjoint in its simplicity, both while launching the survey and while analyzing the results. It really makes you think and prioritize what is most important and relevant for consumers.
Market Research & Customer Insights Specialist
The Process
EPIC Conjoint designed the conjoint survey within an hour. Each survey presented a slightly unique set of options on each of the 10 choice cards. And each survey contained a slightly different set of options to ensure statistical significance.
The survey was seamlessly distributed to the precisely targeted respondent panel in China using an API connection with Cint, a global online panel provider. Three hundred successfully completed surveys, sufficient for statistical significance, were captured within the space of three hours.
A series of screening questions were set to ensure survey respondents were members of the target audience.
The Results
Criteria to participate in the survey were met by 300 respondents.
A preference (utility) score was captured for each claim being tested.
Using preference scores as a proxy for volume share, the brand was able to determine the volume share impact of each claim.
The results indicated that Chinese customers prefer products designed or engineered in Europe and/or systems imported from Europe. Based on this learning, the brand chose to locate its production facility in China, and add the claim that their products were designed/engineered in Europe, which saved them €1.5 million in investment!
