conjoint analysis

Sophisticated technique for analysing the consumer decision-making process. Conjoint analysis is based on the idea that consumers make choices about products by trading good product features against bad product features. For example, a consumer might choose a smaller car over a larger one if it is capable of faster speeds.

Conjoint analysis allots points for product features. A computer might be rated on processor speed, memory, monitor size, and hard disk size. A conjunctive purchaser would consider jointly all product features, looking for a minimum standard for all of them, and would discard brands that failed to reach that level. A disjunctive purchaser would look for a minimum standard from a few highly valued attributes (or maybe even from just one very highly valued attribute), while ignoring the other product features. Market researches explore the factors driving consumer's choices about products by asking individuals to make choices between products with different configurations.