PERCEPTUAL MAPPING

• Perceptual maps are very helpful for determining an

appropriate competitive strategy, depending upon the
brand’s positioning.
• There are various strategic approaches for using
perceptual maps, such as:
1) Looking for market gaps
2) Crowding a competitor
3) Repositioning a brand
4) Repositioning a competitor
5) Adopting a me-too positioning
 1) Looking for a Market Gap
• The most common strategic use of a perceptual map involves
looking for gaps in the market.
• These gaps may represent opportunities because no other
firm/brand is perceived to be offering the same mix of benefits
and features.
• This gap may or may not be viable. A viable market gap requires
sufficient market demand (consumer need) along with the firm’s
ability to access the market as well as requiring a suitable profit
margin per unit.
2) Crowding a Competitor to Gain Market Space
• In the following perceptual map, a firm has made a strategic
decision to take over a market position and has launched several
brands.
• As a consequence, it is likely that existing competitor may need
to consider repositioning their own brand.
 3) Repositioning a Brand
• If a firm has attempted to reposition one of its brands in the minds of
consumers, then it is very important to track how effectively this goal has been
implemented.
• To achieve this, we need to map the consumer’s understanding of each of the
competitive brands at two points in time – typically before and after a major
promotional campaign.
• We should find that the perception of all of the brands will move slowly over
time. However, in the following perceptual map, only the repositioned brand is
highlighted.
 4) Repositioning a Competitor
• This is a much harder strategy goal because you have to almost
reinvent two brands (yours and the competitor) through the one
promotional campaign. However, it can be done.
• Two famous examples of this are Pepsi’s “choice of a new
generation” slogan and Avis with their “we try harder” slogan.
In the first example of
Pepsi, which is shown
simply in the following
perceptual map, Pepsi’s
appeal to the youth
market (the new
generation) effectively
repositioned Coca-Cola
as “old and tired”.
Likewise, the Avis
campaign had the effect
of positioning the
market leader as having
poor customer service.
 5) Adopting a me-too positioning
• The complete opposite of looking for a gap in the market is to try and position very
closely to a market leader. This is a relatively common marketing strategy for smaller
brands.
• By aligning their brand name, packaging, colors and product design as closely as
possible to a major player, the brand hopes that they will pick up some market share.
• Their goal is for either consumers to confuse the two brands or to perceive that the two
brands are quite similar. And as the me-too brand tends to be quite price competitive, it
should achieve a reasonable sales volume, particularly from budget-conscious shoppers.
• This me-too
positioning situation is
highlighted in the
perceptual map.
• In this case, note that
the circles vary in size;
the larger the circle, the
larger the brand’s
market share.
• The smaller circles
represent the me-too
brands.
 Benefits of Perceptual Maps
• To help us better understand market segments
• To see how the target market really perceives the brands in the marketplace
• To evaluate the performance of recent marketing campaigns and other marketing
mix changes
• To confirm whether how consumers perceive us fits with our positioning goals
• To check that our brand has a clear positioning space in the market
• To track how successfully our new products have been positioned into the market
• To monitor competitive brands and their changing market position
• To help our organization identify gaps in the market
• To monitor changes in consumer preferences over time
 Limitations of Perceptual Maps
• Perceptual maps often simplify the consumer’s purchase decision down to
two product attributes
• They tend to be more beneficial for low-involvement purchase decisions
• They are more relevant for individual brands, and less helpful for corporate
brand image
• The data is often difficult or expensive to obtain (via marketing research)
• There is a often difference between consumer’s perception of the brand’s
benefits versus reality
 The Perceptual Process
• When understanding consumer behavior models and theories,
one of the internal factors reviewed is the consumer’s
perceptual process.
• This process outlines the steps of how consumers gain
knowledge and information.
• Different marketing textbooks will have slightly different
variations of the perceptual process model, as shown::
Model showing the relationship between the consumer’s perceptual process and a perceptual map
 A Step-by-step Guide to Constructing a Perceptual
Map
• Step one select two determinant attributes
--determinant attribute are those attributes that the consumer relies
upon in their purchase decision. In other words, determinant attributes
are quite important to them and the consumer uses them to help
differentiate competitive offerings. For instance…
Product category Likely Determinant Attributes

Shoes Comfort, design/style, quality, functionality

Instant coffee Flavor/taste, country of origin, variety, quality

Breakfast cereal Healthiness, sugar level, variety, fun/boring factor

Holiday destination Temperature, travel distance, culture difference, facilities

• Try and pick the two that you think would be the most important in
terms of the product choice between competitive offerings.

Step two – list the main competitors in the product category

• For whatever product category you are looking at, you will need to
compile a list of the main competitive brands/products.
• These are the brands that will be plotted upon on to your perceptual
map.
• You don’t need to list every single competitor in the marketplace,
but you should try for a list of five to ten players.
Step three – Create scores for these brands
• Now we have our chosen brands, we need to allocate scores for them
using the two determinant attributes. The simplest way to do this is by
using simple 1 to 5 rating scale
• Let’s look at an example in the following table. This example uses the
holiday with two of the determinant attributes listed category.
• Note how a 1 to 5 polarized (opposite) scale has been used. The scores
are a good estimate of how an average American traveler would
perceive these possible holiday destinations/countries
Holidays Travel distance Culture difference
1 = very close, 1 = very similar,
5 = very far 5 = quite different
Mexico 1 3
Canada 1 1
The UK 3 1
India 4 4
Singapore 4 2
Australia 5 1
Egypt 3 5
Brazil 2 3
China 3 5
Perceptual
map
showing
product
category
competitors
placed in
related sets
Perceptual Map of
cold beverage
competitors
Perceptual Map
highlighting
direct
competitors
What to review on perceptual map
• In the first three perceptual maps, the major Car
players/sellers in the USA market have been mapped. As you
can see the most of major brands are presented, across six
different product attributes (in the three different maps).

• You should note how the competitors have a different

positioning as new attributes are introduced in each map
How to create perceptual map by using Microsoft Excel
 Your turn
• Develop three perceptual maps of the brands with direct
competitors (7-10) by using six different product attributes.

• Analyse and comment - how the competitors have a different

positioning as new attributes are introduced in each map.