THE DDW VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT™
The DDW Virtual Environment™ provides the setting for testing subtle and/or complex influences upon consumer choices and purchasing. The DDW Virtual Environment™ is a computer-simulated "reality" of a store, restaurant, shelf set, package or advertising and collateral materials.
Researchers should opt for testing in a DDW Virtual Environment™
when...
1. The hypothesis is that consumers will make an individual choice
or purchase that is not consistent with their stated loyalty, e.g. buy
a "second-choice" brand due to a shelf talker and/or
2. The consumer may
be swayed by a complex set of influences, e.g. outdoor ad (billboard),
coupon availability, point-of-purchase signage, and price at the shelf.
Or, when tightly focusing the test upon a single package design, the set
of visual influences may consist of label shape, dominant package color,
message on the "violator" label, and/or font for the brand name.
The DDW Virtual Environment™, by offering a computer simulation, allows the researcher to systematically vary elements like these for testing in a rigorous and cost-effective manner. In contrast, such elements are quite difficult to effectively and inexpensively control in a real-world environment, and the real world greatly reduces the security surrounding the test. The DDW Virtual Environment™ can be crafted for great detail. We have made it possible for consumers to "pick up" and "turn" packages to read the side label.
Flexible, detailed and secure, the DDW Virtual Environment™ test is most cost-effective using an existing environment for a store, shelf, convenience store or quick-service restaurant. However, we can easily craft a custom environment, tailored very specifically to your needs.
DDW Virtual Environment™ tests have been utilized to assess POS, price promotions, signage, aisle layouts, packaging, coupon use, placement on aisle or endcap, potential cannibalization, interest in and reaction to ingredient and nutritional information on the side label, direct mail packages and even consumer satisfaction with the message in the greeting made by a counterperson, played as the consumer "approaches" the counter in the DDW Virtual Environment™ store.
Assess the most subtle and the most complex influences upon consumer behavior using the DDW Virtual Environment™.
