Millennium Marketing Research®

Tom Schori DBA Millennium Marketing Research®, 808 Ironwood, Normal IL 61761, 309-532-8466

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Sales Wave Market Test

With a sales wave market test, we put the client's new product into the hands of those within the client's target market, free of charge. Thus, we force trial. Subsequently, we provide the opportunity for those who've now tried the new product to repurchase it at a price that is somewhat lower than it would be had it actually been introduced to the market.

The elements critical to market share are three fold:

• Awareness %  
• Trial %
• Adoption %

In a Sales Wave Market Test, we're only addressing the adoption issue. That is, among those who are aware of the product and try it, what proportion are likely to adopt (repeat purchase) the new product? Obviously, a high adoption rate would indicate that those within the target market find the new product appealing.

Let's assume that a business was considering which of two new products would be most attractive and that they had, through testing, gotten these percentages:

            Product A                         Product B

Awareness      50%                                20%

Trial          50%                                20%

Adoption        8%                                50%               

Share           2%                                 2%

Both potential new products are on target to achieve 2 share points. While it appears that both are equally attractive, they surely are not. Product B is much more attractive. While Product A's maximum potential is 8%, the maximum potential for Product B is a whopping 50%. The target market simply doesn't like Product A nearly as much as they like Product B.

Would it help much to improve Product A? Probably not, because those who have already tried it aren't likely to try it again.

A sales wave market test, however, will only address the adoption issue. Consequently, while it will provide valuable information, it will provide no insight into the other two critical elements, i.e., awareness and trial.