Competitive analysis is one of the highest-value services agencies can offer because it directly informs strategy, positioning, and campaign development. AI moderation enables agencies to run competitive studies at a scale and frequency that traditional methods cannot match.
Format 1: Decision Journey Reconstruction (30 min)
Reconstructs the full purchase decision to identify when and why competitors enter and exit consideration.
Guide Structure
- “Walk me through the last time you chose between options in [category]. Start from the moment you realized you needed something.” (5 min)
- “Who else did you consider? What made them contenders — and what eliminated them?” (7 min)
- “Was there a single moment when you knew which one you’d choose? What triggered it?” (5 min)
- “What information did you look for during the evaluation? Where did you find it?” (5 min)
- “If you were advising a friend making the same decision, what would you tell them?” (5 min)
- Laddering probes to reach emotional and identity-level drivers (3 min)
Format 2: Switching Analysis (25 min)
Targets consumers who recently switched between competitors.
- “Tell me about your decision to switch from [brand A] to [brand B]. When did the idea first enter your mind?” (5 min)
- “What was the final straw — the thing that made you actually make the change?” (5 min)
- “What did you expect would be different? What actually was different?” (5 min)
- “Is there anything that could bring you back to [brand A]?” (5 min)
- “What does [brand B] understand about people like you that [brand A] didn’t?” (5 min)
Format 3: Competitive Perception Mapping (20 min)
Maps brand associations and positioning across the competitive set.
- “If [brand A], [brand B], and [brand C] were people at a dinner party, how would each one behave?” (5 min)
- “Which brand in [category] is most like you? Least like you? Why?” (5 min)
- “What does each brand do better than anyone else?” (5 min)
- “If price were identical, which would you choose and why?” (5 min)
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