Design Management Group

Purchasing motivation matrix

A very simple tool to help structure insight into the motivations of either different segments or different decision making units. Useful for identifying what is not known about a market.

Description

It is useful to focus on the different motivations that clusters of customers (segments) or different decision makers have when making a purchasing decision. Although the matrix is very simple, filling it in well requires a significant amount of understanding about the nature of the market, the way in which it is segmented and what motivates different stakeholders.

This can be a useful tool for highlighting what is not known and to support the planning of market research. There are many questions which can be asked, all relating to the importance of different elements of the design mix:

• What are the differentiating factors and which features are most important?
• How important are ergonomic or stylistic aspects?
• How critical is reliability, robustness and maintenance?
• How important are brand, promotion, distribution and after sales support?

Method

Consider motivations within segments:

Different segments should be motivated by a different range of factors. By articulately expressing these factors, a team can improve their understanding of the requirements of each segment and avoid developing products which are not well positioned

Consider motivations of decision makers

It is useful to consider the motivations of the different decision making units. What is it that the end user is looking for? What are the most important factors for the person who ultimately makes the decision?

Notes

Can be difficult when there is little experience of the market. However, it may enable hypotheses about the motivations of users to be proposed and subsequently tested. May also expose any limitations in knowledge and pose more questions than it answers.