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Most studies in marketing operate at a market level, which also becomes frequently the condition
for design work. This means that the aggregate or weighted average consumer is the focus. Having
already made this aggregation as the “top-down approach” indicates, it is not feasible to take the
individuals apart and explore how they differ individually. This is so because already the concepts
and the methodology are founded at the aggregate level. The differences have been eliminated and
replaced by an assumed normal distribution or similar. We depart from that and start our
investigations at an individual level. This means, in the “bottom up” approach we keep the
individual variation or differences intact for further analysis. We base our concept and methodology
at the individual level. Only then, understanding what happens for the single individual we can
eventually aggregate to see the consequences at a market level. We explore a procedure that enables
the marketer to estimate the effect of a marketing message like a mission statement in a logo at the
level of a single individual. This is a prior to market test, with its own realism. The procedure can
easily be extended to products, where both quality and price (willingness to pay) are issues and it
can also be used as a follow-up after the round of pre-test.
To satisfy individual users, real individuals should be considered in their heterogeneity. Relevant
psychological and statistical methods and reasoning are useful in keeping the trace of the individual.
In the bottom up approach we measure how much the influence of a treatment like that of facing a
particular design influences each human being. Successively, one may see if other behavioural
characteristics also unite for instance those who are heavily affected or those who are not. Then a
new behavioural based community may appear. |