SensoGram 8: 'Concept Capture'    An axiom for success:  construct an appealing concept and deliver with a good product.  However, the product must capture the promise of the concept; if it doesn't, consumers will feel let down, and they will not rebuy.  How do you know if your product delivers on the concept promise?  The SensoMetrics product-concept test has been designed to measure this precisely: Respondents are introduced to the concept.  They each then rate their reactions on SensoMetrics scales, providing a quantitative measure of concept appeal and product expectations.  If there is some uncertainty about how exactly to position the concept, this can be checked by having different groups evaluate different concepts.  These same people then evaluate product prototypes, under controlled SensoMetrics conditions.  This should involve a number of variants (including a `standard' product, if applicable).  Where appropriate, respondents evaluate the products on the same scales as for the concept; this gives a hard measure of product delivery.  This process simulates the usual practice of becoming aware of a concept through advertising or in the supermarket, buying the product, then trying it at home.  The testing regime provides a clear prognosis for the product, as demonstrated in the following example. In a recent study we investigated the consumer response to a prototype `light' variant of an established product.  Of particular interest here was just how consumers would expect the light variant to taste in comparison with the regular product.  The chart below shows consumer response on some of the attributes measured:   Looking first at the concept reaction (red bars), we see that consumers expected the light variant to be less firm in texture than the regular product, lower in flavour strength, and much less salty.  But most important of all, consumers expected to like the light variant more than the regular version; they actually expected the light variant to taste better than the already successful regular product.  Herein lies a lesson:  a light variant should taste as good as the regular product.  Consumers will not make concessions on flavour for the sake of nutrition.  Now we look at how the product actually performed (blue bars; product scores for the light prototype have been adjusted relative to those for the regular product, which was also tasted blind).  We see very good product delivery.  Respondents expected the light variant to be less firm than the regular, and it is; they expected it to be lower in flavour strength, and it is; and they expected it to be less salty than the regular, and it is (although it is not as low in saltiness as respondents expected).  But the key result is performance on the Liking attribute:  in blind testing, consumers did like the light variant more than the regular product.  In fact, they liked it even more than they thought they would!  This is a good example of Concept Capture.  In this instance, the product has actually exceeded its expectations.  Whatever the outcome, this procedure functions as a diagnostic instrument, pointing up the strengths and weaknesses of concept and product.