The factors uncovered by means of a factor analysis are very suitable for the depiction of positioning. On the one hand they reduce what is often a very large number of features in a study to a few overriding, fundamental dimensions. In efficient factor solutions, these dimensions incorporate the great bulk of the information contained in all the individual features. And on the other hand, these dimensions are mutually independent, which makes them ideal for use as axes in a system of coordinates.
Fig. 1: Positioning of herb liqueur brands in relation to the independent dimensions“taste / effect” and “tolerability”
Often just one graph suffices to display the essential learnings from an item battery.
Fig. 1 shows the position of the client’s brand in the herb liqueur market in an environment with 4 competitor brands, in terms of the strongest explanatory dimensions: “taste / effect” and “tolerability”.
