A decision support model for selecting product/service benefit positionings

The art (and science) of successful product/service positioning generally hinges on the firm's ability to select a set of attractively priced consumer benefits that are: (1) valued by the buyer, (2) distinctive in one or more respects, (3) believable, (4) deliverable, (5) sustainable (under actual or potential competitive abilities to imitate, neutralize, or overcome) in the target markets that the firm selects. (While easily said, meeting all of these conditions is often the exception rather than the rule.) For many years, the ubiquitous quadrant chart has been used to provide a simple graph of product/service benefits (usually called product/service attributes) described in terms of consumers' perceptions of the importance of attributes (to brand/supplier choice) and the performance of competing firms on these attributes. This paper describes a model that extends the quadrant chart concept to a decision support system that optimizes a firm's market share for a specified product/service. In particular, we describe a decision support model that utilizes relatively simple marketing research data on consumers' judged benefit importances, and supplier performances on these benefits to develop message components for specified target buyers. A case study is used to illustrate the model. The study deals with developing advertising message components for a relatively new entrant in the US air shipping market. We also discuss, more briefly, management reactions to application of the model to date, and areas for further research and model extension.