Maximizing Consumer Insights: When to Use MaxDiff vs. Conjoint Analysis
Your guide to choosing between MaxDiff vs Conjoint Analysis for revealing customer preferences that drive business growth.

Understanding Survey Question Types for MaxDiff vs Conjoint Analysis
Data-driven surveys are essential for actionable insights, with MaxDiff vs Conjoint Analysis being two of the most powerful question types for understanding consumer preferences. Whether you are gathering data on consumer behavior, macroeconomic trends, or purchasing criteria, knowing which method to use is crucial for your research success.
Speaking of – selecting the right question types to incorporate into your survey is a crucial step in the research process. It’s important to focus on what will be appropriate for the data you want to collect, and is straightforward for the respondent to understand.
MaxDiff and Conjoint are two such question types. Designed to gather data on how customers value different components or features of their products or services, these question types support clients with pricing strategies, determining which product attributes are the most important to customers, and identifying areas for product range expansion. Understanding the strengths and limitations of MaxDiff vs Conjoint Analysis helps researchers select the right approach for their specific objectives. Here’s a closer look at how they can support you:
When to Use MaxDiff Analysis for Customer Preferences
This is a technique for working out relative preferences. It presents a set of different options related to a specific attribute, and then creates a preference score for each item. For example, different logos, packaging sizes, etc. The respondent selects which option they most agree with and which they least agree with. This is helpful when narrowing down the traits that customers find most important in a product.
For example: “What do you look for when choosing X product? For each group of features you see, tell us the one you consider the MOST important and the one you consider the LEAST important.”
Key Benefits of Conjoint Analysis in Product Development
This question type is used for understanding how people value different features of a product or service. It combines real-life scenarios with statistical techniques to model actual market decisions. In short, respondents are presented with groups of attributes, and they then choose between which is more appealing to them (or which they are most likely to purchase).
For example: “If the following two laundry detergent products and their attributes were your only options, which product would you choose?”
Our Analysis & Reporting tools make it easy to visualize conjoint results and share insights across your organization.
What if I Don’t Know Which Question Type to Use?
If you’re not sure whether to use a MaxDiff or a Conjoint for your next project, fear not, we will advise you on what to use, according to the data you’re looking to collect. And the best part? Our Advanced Analytics team will program these into your survey!
Want to learn more about our research capabilities, including data quality and survey writing? Start the conversation today: hello@walr.com or request your personalized demo.
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