ctrlalt, Author at Wirral Sensory Services

The Impact of Age Demographics on Sensory Testing Results

Your product testing strategy might be missing a crucial element, costing you valuable market insights. While you’re likely considering factors like taste preferences, packaging appeal, and price sensitivity, a fundamental influence often gets overlooked: the age of your test participants. If you’re investing in product testing, you need to understand how age demographics shape sensory […]

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Why Consumer Research Fails: Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

The stakes are particularly high in today’s fast-moving consumer goods market. Your competitors are constantly gathering consumer insights, and falling behind on quality research can impact your market position.  However, consumer research represents a major investment of your business’s time and resources. Worse, too many projects end up delivering nothing but wasted budget and unusable […]

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Bridging the Gap: Using Consumer Research to Align Product Development with Market Demands

Consumer preferences are evolving faster than ever before. What delighted your customers last year might barely interest them today, and tomorrow’s preferences are already taking shape. You’ve likely experienced this firsthand, perhaps watching a previously successful product slowly lose its market position or seeing competitor innovations rapidly capture consumer attention. Yet many businesses continue developing […]

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Why Mouthfeel Matters in Sensory Profiling

When developing a new food or beverage product, you might focus primarily on taste and aroma. However, mouthfeel can make the difference between a product’s success in your chosen market and its failure to gain consumer acceptance. This crucial sensory attribute influences not only initial consumer response but also drives repeat purchases and brand loyalty. […]

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Cost-Effective Approaches to Product Optimisation

Product optimisation can feel like an expensive luxury, especially when development budgets are under pressure. You might be tempted to skip this crucial step or cut corners to save costs when reformulating your existing products. However, the truth is that well-planned product optimisation can actually save your brand money while significantly increasing your chances of […]

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Why Guesswork Doesn’t Work: Scientific Approaches to Fragrance Selection in Product Development

You might think you know what your customers want when it comes to fragrance selection. After all, you understand your brand, your product category, and current market trends. However, with virtually infinite fragrance combinations available, relying on intuition alone is a risky strategy that can lead to costly mistakes in product development. The truth is […]

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Why Consumer Acceptance Testing Matters More in Economic Downturns

In times of economic uncertainty, the ways consumers interact with products changes dramatically.  You’ll likely have noticed this shift already: from increased price sensitivity to a greater focus on proven quality over experimentation. With inflation continuing to squeeze household budgets and consumer confidence remaining volatile, launching new products or reformulating existing ones carries more risk […]

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Listening to Customers: How Consumer Research Creates Products People Actually Want

Consumer research has long been the backbone of successful product development. By tapping into your target audience’s thoughts, preferences, and behaviours, you can create products that truly resonate with them. This approach increases the chances of market success and helps build stronger relationships with your customers. However, many companies still rely on guesswork or internal […]

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Quantifying the Impact of Product Changes Through Packaging Research

Your product’s packaging is often the first point of contact between your brand and potential customers. It’s not just a container or a wrapper. Rather, it’s a powerful marketing tool that can make or break a sale. Packaging serves as a silent salesperson, communicating your brand’s values, quality, and uniqueness in the few seconds a […]

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What Advantages Does Home Use Testing Provide as a Consumer Research Method?

Understanding how your product performs in real-world settings is crucial in the competitive world of consumer products. While other consumer research methods like focus groups or central location testing can provide valuable insights, they don’t capture how a product fits into a consumer’s daily life. Home use testing (often called HUT) offers unique advantages that […]

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