Discussion Post
How to Design an Attractive Wearable Redux
Recall an electronics firm was contemplating what attributes would appeal to its customers if it were to issue a new wearable. The features that the brand team focused on, and the dummy variable codes, were these:
• Design appearance: small smartphone (1) wristwatch (O)
• Apps activated by: touch (1) voice (0)
• Annual Fee: $0 (1) $20 (0)
• Co-branding with teams: yes (1) no (0)
They ran a conjoint study on every 10th customer who came into one of their retailer partner's stores until they had a sample of 100. The 4 factors listed above result in 16 combinations (2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16). Each person rated the 16 possibilities from 1 (would not consider buying such a wearable) to 100 (would definitely purchase such a unit). The regression results follow:
Wearable attractiveness= 0.6 design+ 0.2 activation+ 0.9 fee+ 0.1 co-branding.
Task
i. What features matter to customers, and which do not?
ii. What would the optimal wearable look like? If you were to cluster the customers first, and then run a separate conjoint on each cluster, do you think the results would vary? Could the company create different wearables to satisfy multiple segments?
iii. Are you worried at all about the sample-are customers who visit the retailer epresentative of those who might purchase online?
iv. What features do you wish the company had included that might appeal to customers more?