How to Measure the Effectiveness of Positioning?
In order to know how effective positioning is, positioning effectiveness should be measured.
Two main groups of positioning measurements exist, namely company-based and customer-based.
1.
Company-based positioning measurement approaches
With these approaches, managers are surveyed on the positioning they are exerting. Afterwards, the information obtained will be linked to the financial performance (sales, profits, market shares) of the brand.
2.
Customer-based positioning measurement approaches
These approaches obtain information from customer surveys. The resulting information is used in several ways:
2a. One way is to determine whether the associations that we
intended to establish in the mind of consumers are consistent with the
actual perceived associations of the customers. Hereby it is assumed that efficient positioning is the degree to which there is consistency between what companies claim and the perception of the customers.
2b. The other way is using
perceptual maps which determine a brand’s position in a “virtual space”, displaying how consumers perceive the good compared to other products in terms of for example properties and preferences.
Source: Fuchs, C. and A. Diamantopoulos. (2012). Customer-perceived Positioning Effectiveness: Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Implications for New Product Managers*. Product Development & Management Association vol. 29, 229-244.
Example of Perceptual Map | 
Example of Perceptual Map |
