Often we want to identify the ideal product/service, or we wish to understand where it would be best to make improvements in a product to maximise sales. Sometimes we want to understand things that are very difficult to grasp, such as brand value. Ideal methods here are trade off and conjoint techniques. Use of these techniques does demand pre-planning, so that data is collected in an appropriate manner.

Trade Off
This is the simplest method, most often used for brand–price trade off. Respondents are asked to choose between a sequence of brands at a variety of prices. Subsequent analysis allows each brand and each price level to be given a relative weight. These may be combined to calculate predicted market shares at given price levels. It also permits calculation of price elasticity. It can be used to model the effect of hypothetical brands in the market, or the outcome of brand withdrawal.