http://reperes.eu/index_uk.php?n=21&p=chap5
Doing a blind taste test
involves the following process (granting you already have your brand):
I. Selection
of a Similar Competing Brand
Emphasis on the word SIMILAR. When you select a
competing brand, each should be as similar as possible in order to gain more
insight and also to give you an advantage when you determine your
recommendations. The similarity can be classified into Price and Category.
II. Developing the Questionnaire
The questionnaire includes the attributes of the
products you are trying to compare. The attributes must be rated using either a
3-point scale or 2. In this section, we need to determine if the product is
either too much or less performing than the other product.
III. Preparation of the Test Materials
The test materials should be prepared EXACTLY what
is indicated in the instructions. Remove the labels or any packaging that can
be associated directly to any brand in order to remove any bias.
This is why we call it Blind Taste Test. We remove
all brand related packaging and attaching our own product codes in order to get
an unbiased results.
IV.
Determining the Test Groups in Terms of Target Market and Sample Size
Sample size depends on the population and
confidence level to get significant results.
V. Execution of the Test
During the execution, testers should have a system
to make sure the test is flawless. In order to do this, each member of the
testing team should have a role to follow. One can be designated to distribute
and collect the questionnaires while the others might be in charge of serving
product A or B. Also, to make it un bias, the group must be split into two, one
taking product A and the other taking product B all at the same time.
VI. Data Analysis and Recommendations
All you need to do is aggregate all the data into
one spreadhseet. I'll come up with another post on how to do the analysis and
recommendation since the basic objective of this post is to show how a taste
test would go.
So there you have it. If you plan to conduct a test
for your product and determine its weaknesses against a competing brand, then
the steps outlined above would definitely help you.