Market researches are often used by companies during the development of products with a high design content to understand whether the concepts being defined may or may not enjoy the benefits of the reference market. The sectors in which market research is used systematically are many, with the Automotive world leading the way in terms of reference numbers with regards to these research methods: car, van, motorcycle and railroad car concepts are tested, as well as detailed components, such as dashboards, fabrics, headlights and car front grilles. These are products where the design component: shapes, volumes, finishes and colors are elements on which the company asks selected samples of customers (representing the reference market) to express their opinion: in short, if the design like it or not, so you can make those strategic definitions functional to the product definition. The VR shows clearly serve a great deal now.
In the Automotive sector, these tests are called the Clinic Design Test jargon and consist of the preparation of areas specifically designed to favor a neutral and objective evaluation of the concepts in the project, in direct comparison with the models already existing on the market. Such tests can easily cost tens of thousands of Euros only as regards the location, the set-up, the lighting, the security operations and all the necessary logistics. The VR shows are essential there.
VR in market research
Market research now has a strong traditional context. For several years they have been carrying out tests on physical prototypes made of wood or clay finished externally like real products on the market. Alternatively, when the test involves the first early stages of development, drawings, sketches, projects presented either on screen or on paper are used. Over the last five years, almost all companies have intensified the use of CAD software, which has become a real cornerstone in the design and development of new products. The great availability of design files and a general increase in digital culture have greatly facilitated the creation of appropriately “covered” and contextualized mathematics in order to photorealistically represent the concept in immersive settings. It is therefore preparing the fertile ground for the use of Virtual Reality. Some companies have begun experimenting with the use of VR for the early stages of design: Toyota, Audi and Bentley have been working in this direction for some time.
The possibility of entering the corporate digital and cultural processes more naturally than in the past has meant that VR is now an operational and concrete tool to support the processes of Marketing knowledge and Market Research. For the VR in entertainment this is important now.
The strengths of VR in Market Research
The progressive evolution and refinement of immersive technologies have immediately made perceptible the advantages of VR compared to the traditional techniques of Design Product Test. In this white paper we will refer mainly to the Automotive field, but the general principles are easily contextualizable also to other sectors industry.
