Perceptual Mapping a Manager Guide

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Managing the

Dolan , Robert J. (1990) ,“ Perceptual Mapping: A Manager's Guide" , Neω Product Development Process , Addison叫1 esley Publishing Company , Inc.: Reading , Massachusetts , 95-109.

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Harvard Business School

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July 5, 1990

Perceptual 關 apping: A 關 anager's
J. Introduction

Guide

Pictures are often more effective than words ，巴﹒忌， basketball coaches map out plays on miniblackboards during time-outs; a company's annual reports set out sales figures in a bar graph; and executives study maps of sales regions to identífy account concentration and territory developmen t. Similar pictures often play a role in new product development as evidenced by the common usage of terms like 可roduct positioning" and “ market structure." These terms seem to indicate that 也e manager is visualizing a map of the marketplace .in which brands are positioned against one another vying for the spot which consumers most desire. In strategic planning sessions , it is not unusual for a participant to pick up a marker and make his vision exp 1icit on a flip char t. For example, a V, P. of marketing for a men's tailored cI othing company might think of the dimensions of competition as mainly two: price and youthfulness of appeal and thus sketch out the "map" in Figure A. Products range from the very expensive Hickey Freeman for the mature person to Austìn Reed as branded low-price alternative for the younger set, to private label clothing. The strategic planners use this map as the focal point of a discussion on where the firm's new suit line should be
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Implicit1y , the group makes two assumptions in using the map 扭曲is way: (i) potential customers use these same two dimensions in differen世ating brands , i. e. , price andyouthfulness of appeal are key ωcustomers and (îi) the placement of a brand on the two dimensions reflects the beHefs of customers. If it is a... [continues]

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