The Product Specs is a statement of how a design is made, what it is intended to do and if it complies with the preferences of each market segment. The ideal product attribute levels desired by each segment and the actual attribute levels for all products on the market are in the Market Segments and Product Attributes Report (go to Design and Development menu ->Reports tab)
The Product Specs Index which you can see in the Market Summary Report on the other hand is based on the distance from the ideal consumer preferences relative to the radius of influence of a segment on the perceptual map.
What does this mean for you?
If, on the perceptual map, a product is at a point which is exactly halfway between the ideal segment center point and the outer ring, then your product spec index will be approximately 0.50. If you are on the outer ring, your index will be closer to 0.01. If you hit close to the center, then it will be closer to 1.0. It does not matter whether you are above or below the ideal point – what matters is your distance away from it relative to the radius of influence for the market segment.
How do you determine what the product specifications are?
The Market Segments and Product Attributes report shows the exact values last period. Go to Reports->Marketing Reports->Product Reports to view this report.
Note that the Perceptual Map chart (which you can find in the Key Reports menu) also show the ideal consumer preferences for last period. The ideal points tend to shift over time in MikesBikes Advanced due to changes in the preferences of the consumers. If you aim for what you currently see on the map, then you are likely to find the segment center points have shifted slightly when you see the results after the rollover.
Do you have a question suggestion for our next question of the week? Click here to fill out a form or email it through to help@smartsims.com.