Virtual Test Markets
The considerable amounts of time and resources necessary to conduct test markets, restrict the amount of test markets which can be conducted by companies. The risk to reveal a new product design too early is another concern for companies in fast moving and highly competitive markets, which is independent from any cost & time considerations. To overcome these limitations a new type of test markets, so called Virtual Test Markets, was devised. Virtual Test Markets are computer simulations of consumers, companies and the market environment. The technological basis for this kind of test market is a multi-agent system as well as methods from artificial intelligence. In a virtual test market, new products or marketing and distribution strategies can be tested without the risk and time constraints discussed above. Another advantage is the ability to test many different products in one Virtual Test Market as the computer simulation can always be reset to the original situation before the introduction of a new product.
Read more about this topic: Test Market
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