Weighing the Risk & Reward of changing an existing product
Changing a product for any reason entails risk that current users will reject the new product—reasons such as quality improvement, cost reduction effort or a change due to regulatory or ingredient related issues. Alienation testing involves engaging with current users to quantify their purchase behaviors to proposed changes to assess the potential risk to the business.
InsightsNow assesses this risk with a unique approach that applies behavioral science to predict how and why current users will react to a proposed product change. This includes a diverse array of situations where product changes are “blind” or accompanied by marketing communications and/or testing occurs in a central location, home use or extended home use environment.
Sensory Tradeoffs
The alienation test quantifies the sensory tradeoffs for a proposed change.
- Is the new product detected as different from current?
- Does the new product create penalties that reduce liking or preference?
- Do benefits if communicated overcome penalties leading to a change in purchase behavior?

Download Sheet
Where will the Alienation Test advance your research?