MaxDiff and conjoint analysis are essential market research tools companies can rely on to improve their business.
Both tools provide deeper insight into what drives consumers to purchase a product, allowing companies to continuously better their offerings, ultimately driving sales. As a result, businesses can make informed decisions based on quality data.
But these tools are highly complex, and we strongly recommend partnering with a third-party firm like Drive Research to conduct them. Below, we’ll dive into what each method does, the benefits of each, and key differences.
What Is MaxDiff in Market Research?
MaxDiff, short for Maximum Difference Scaling, is a market research technique that asks respondents to evaluate a set of items and select what they like most (or what is most important) and what they like least.
This process is repeated across multiple sets, with a different list of items shown in each set. Each set shown to an individual will allow them to choose what they most/least prefer, what features are most/least desirable, and so on.
This type of deep analysis yields insights into the relative importance or desirability of each item tested, making it a powerful tool for understanding consumer preferences.
What Is Conjoint Analysis?
Conjoint analysis is similar to MaxDiff in that it requires survey respondents to make choices, but more complex.
This tool goes a step further by presenting a portfolio of attributes and their respective levels.
When conducting conjoint analysis, respondents must weigh these attributes and levels to decide which option they prefer most. Essentially, respondents are testing out more complex decisions that translate better into real-world circumstances.
This layered approach helps researchers delve deeper into decision-making processes, although it can be more intense for respondents.
MaxDiff Benefits
MaxDiff comes with a variety of benefits. It provides varied information and can also be conducted in a number of different ways. Keep reading to learn more about our favorite benefits MaxDiff provides.
Forces Differentiation: By requiring respondents to make choices within a set of items, MaxDiff simulates real-world scenarios and avoids the common survey issue of all items being rated as equally important.
Versatility in Applications: MaxDiff identifies which features or attributes should be prioritized. It also pinpoints the most effective messaging or talking points. Lastly, MaxDiff can also highlight the key drivers of customer satisfaction.
Analysis Options: Basic MaxDiff analysis provides rankings of items from most to least preferred, often through simple metrics like best-minus-worst scoring. More complex statistical analyses can uncover individual respondent scores, perform market simulations, and enable segmentation.
User-Friendly: The task is straightforward for respondents, making it less mentally taxing compared to conjoint analysis.
Cost-Effective: MaxDiff is budget-friendly, requiring less investment in design, setup, and analysis.
Conjoint Analysis Benefits
Conjoint analysis provides unique advantages by simulating even more realistic decision-making scenarios.
Realistic Insights: By including both attributes and levels, conjoint analysis mirrors complex real-world choices. Respondents make trade-offs, allowing researchers to understand how attributes influence one another.
Versatility in Applications: Conjoint analysis highlights the optimal combination of attributes for the target audience. This tool also determines ooptimal price points and evaluates willingness to pay for specific features. Also aiding with more complex decisions, conjoint analysis is useful in industries like healthcare or finance, where consumers weigh intricate product or service options.
Attribute and Level Analysis: Unlike MaxDiff, conjoint analysis assesses not only the importance of each attribute but also the desirability of different levels within each attribute (e.g., open parking vs. covered parking vs. indoor parking).
Advanced Analysis: Conjoint studies enable sophisticated insights, such as market share simulations, optimal product configurations, and segmentation analysis.
Example of MaxDiff
An example of MaxDiff could involve a brand testing various product features for a new smartphone. In this case, the brand wants to better understand what potential customers would look for when purchasing a smartphone.
Respondents might be asked to choose which feature they find most and least important from sets of options like battery life, camera quality, screen size, storage capacity, and so on.
Repeating this process with shuffled options allows researchers to rank these features based on consumer preference.
Using this information, the brand can then make data-driven decisions to improve the smartphone - making it more appealing to customers.
Which Should You Use?
The choice between MaxDiff and conjoint analysis depends on your research goals. To make things easy, we summed up both tools below.
- Use MaxDiff: If your objective is relatively straightforward, such as prioritizing product or service features. MaxDiff is also ideal for clients with lower budgets who still want to gather quality data. Furthermore, MaxDiff typically takes less time for respondents, making it a time-saver.
- Use Conjoint Analysis: If you need to explore deeper insights into attributes and their levels, like understanding trade-offs between price and features. This tool is also useful for determining which attributes participants prefer over others. As a result, clients can refine their offerings based on actual responses from their target audience.
Contact Our Full-Service Market Research Firm Today
Whether you’re exploring the key drivers of customer satisfaction with MaxDiff or diving into complex trade-offs using conjoint analysis, a third-party market research firm can help.
Their expertise ensures your study is designed and executed to provide actionable insights tailored to your business needs.
Interested in learning more about our market research services? Reach out through any of the four ways below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Chris Coville
As the Director of Research of Drive Research, Chris has 10 years of experience in the market research field and has completed projects with organizations across the globe. He was also named a 2017 40 Under 40 Award winner.
Learn more about Chris, here.
