Nestle Refrigerated Foods: Contadina Pasta & Pizza (a)
1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the BASES I (concept test) and BASES II (concept + taste test)?
Both tests measure market potential to a degree. The results can be used to gauge level of awareness and possible usage of a product as well as to understand customer’s perception of the product/brand. These results can be used to potential sales and marketability of the product. However, the BASES I test does not utilize any actual products (taste testing) to ascertain customer reaction. It depends solely on the replies from potential customers to forecast marketability and impressions of the product. This type of survey can be conducted quite quickly with relatively little expense. On the other hand, BASES II includes a taste test along with its concept test to gather similar information for forecasting. The advantage of the BASES II is that the people surveyed can sample the product and provide feedback. They provide feedback on what they liked or disliked about the actual product instead of discussing what they might like or dislike about the proposed product based on the surveyor’s description. This information can be very valuable to the manufacturer as he can modify his product, marketing plan, and focus based on the responses. However, this type of survey is much harder to conduct than a BASES I survey. It is more costly and time consuming. Further compounding the problem in the Nestle case, is the fact that only past or loyal Contadina customers where surveyed. This segment of people is more likely to be favorably biased toward the product and will skew the results because they already believe in the brand and its products. Conducting the test in this fashion would not necessarily gauge the marketability to non-Contadina customer. Another complication comes from the likelihood that people who are given free samples are more prone to respond favorably to the product due to the simple fact that they were given special treatment in
Both tests measure market potential to a degree. The results can be used to gauge level of awareness and possible usage of a product as well as to understand customer’s perception of the product/brand. These results can be used to potential sales and marketability of the product. However, the BASES I test does not utilize any actual products (taste testing) to ascertain customer reaction. It depends solely on the replies from potential customers to forecast marketability and impressions of the product. This type of survey can be conducted quite quickly with relatively little expense. On the other hand, BASES II includes a taste test along with its concept test to gather similar information for forecasting. The advantage of the BASES II is that the people surveyed can sample the product and provide feedback. They provide feedback on what they liked or disliked about the actual product instead of discussing what they might like or dislike about the proposed product based on the surveyor’s description. This information can be very valuable to the manufacturer as he can modify his product, marketing plan, and focus based on the responses. However, this type of survey is much harder to conduct than a BASES I survey. It is more costly and time consuming. Further compounding the problem in the Nestle case, is the fact that only past or loyal Contadina customers where surveyed. This segment of people is more likely to be favorably biased toward the product and will skew the results because they already believe in the brand and its products. Conducting the test in this fashion would not necessarily gauge the marketability to non-Contadina customer. Another complication comes from the likelihood that people who are given free samples are more prone to respond favorably to the product due to the simple fact that they were given special treatment in