This module provides an overview of perceptual maps, several examples, guidance on creating a perceptual map, and a free template that is completely customizable. This site provides lots of good information about developing, using and interpreting perceptual maps for marketing. The website also contains several free Excel templates to create perceptual maps quickly and easily. Ideal for undergraduate marketing students.
Type of Material:
Reference material
Recommended Uses:
Instructors can use this site to demonstrate how perceptual maps are created very quickly using Excel data. It could easily be used to design various homework assignments.
Technical Requirements:
Browser.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
To be able to create a positioning map on a product category with multiple competing products and types of products. Although the site is geared towards creating, understanding, and interpreting perceptual maps, the key goal seems to be the creation of such maps. In order to understand the maps, the author is selling an eBook available in PDF that reviews these important topics for a price of (at the time of this review) $2.99.
Target Student Population:
The primary target population would be marketing students in principles of marketing, marketing research, marketing strategy, and marketing communications.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Basic understanding of segmenting, targeting, and positioning, and basic Excel skills.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
This is a comprehensive module on a foundational concept in marketing. It provides thorough coverage, grounded in the discipline, of an important planning and strategy tool that is often lightly treated in traditional textbooks. The site is extremely easy to use and students should have a lot of fun seeing how data gets transformed into perceptual maps. Excel templates are available for different types of maps, including a multi-attribute perceptual map that allow you to map up to 12 brands and up 12 attributes at the same time. There are many examples of completed perceptual maps as well that can be used as the basis for instruction. Another strength is the "theory" section that addresses basics of positioning, competitive sets, determinant attributes, and other positioning concepts.
Concerns:
The module requires some context by the instructor and is best used with an assignment. Some scholarly links to related topics (segmentation, targeting, positioning) would be helpful. I found this site to have a really good balance of content, activities, and imagery. The only concern was that the site lacks a clear type of deliverable to help an instructor determine if the student has mastered the material and completed a map correctly.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The perceptual map tools can be used as the basis for a class assignment, a larger project, or student research. Certainly these templates can save a lot of time if one has to create a map from scratch. There are also many ideas to help create maps for the first time (e.g., attribute axis ideas). The site even extends the concept of mapping by discussing "what next" such as branding and marketing strategies based on mapping results. The module provides fairly complete coverage and builds concepts progressively. It is easy to write an assignment for and is efficient.
Concerns:
The module could include more on the concept of positioning and perception to more fully ground the concept of perceptual maps.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The module is easy to use, with a simple series of links on the topics. The students should have a lot of fun exploring and working on this site. To assist students and instructors, the text is accompanied by video to show how to use the spreadsheets.
Concerns:
The design of the site could be improved. The inclusion of ads on the site is distracting, and the Google ad links appear to be links to additional information on the site but in fact take the user to an external site. The tabs at the top and the links on the main landing page are sometimes inconsistent and therefore confusing. Many pages did not load at first attempt. If you are a Mac user, some of the steps may not work correctly. The templates are from Excel 2007 so compatibility issues may be a concern.
Creative Commons:
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