Concept Testing
Test your ideas with real customers and identify the concepts most likely to succeed.
Concept testing to validate your ideas early and launch with greater confidence or growth
Concept testing helps you understand how customers respond to new ideas before significant time and investment are committed. At Vision One, we evaluate the appeal, relevance, and credibility of your concepts, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. The result is clear insight that helps you refine ideas, prioritise the strongest concepts, and move forward with greater confidence.
Fast & reliable concept testing made easy
We offer a full range of concept screening and concept testing techniques and have extensive experience in both consumer and B2B markets. For example, this includes food and drink, FMCG, technology, travel and financial services.
Vision One’s Concept Testing research IdeaProbe incorporates new System 1 thinking by focusing on emotional decision-making within short time frames. In addition, our testing includes the following two options:
- Concept Screening: Screening is the process of testing a broad range of concepts (e.g., 5 to 20 ideas) to identify the best ideas to take forward.
- Concept Testing: A full concept evaluation test presents a single concept or full product or service offering monadically – as a single idea to avoid order effects and gather detailed consumer evaluation.
Concept testing is valuable for teams responsible for innovation, and is commonly used by:
- Product Managers – to assess demand for new products or features.
- Innovation Teams – to prioritise the most promising ideas in the pipeline.
- Marketing Leaders – to test new propositions, campaigns, or brand concepts.
- Category Managers – to understand how new ideas fit within the market.
- Senior Decision-Makers – to reduce risk and invest in ideas with the greatest potential.
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Product & Concept Testing Services
Central location testing (CLT)
CLTs, or Hall tests, bring real consumers into a dedicated research setting where they can interact with concepts, products, or prototypes first-hand. At Vision One, we combine observation with in-depth discussion to understand genuine reactions and emotions. The CLT approach is ideal for testing packaging, product experiences, or innovations where seeing, touching, or trying matters.
Online concept testing
Vision One’s online concept testing helps businesses quickly understand how customers respond to new ideas. By testing concepts with carefully targeted audiences, we measure appeal, relevance, differentiation, and purchase intent. Our approach provides clear, robust insight that helps teams prioritise the strongest ideas, refine concepts, and confidently move forward with innovations that resonate.
Ideation & co-creation
At Vision One, ideation and co-creation sessions bring customers directly into the innovation process. Through collaborative workshops and creative research techniques, we explore unmet needs and generate fresh ideas together. This human-centred approach helps businesses uncover unexpected opportunities and develop concepts that are grounded in real customer insight and enthusiasm.
Benefits of Concept Testing of IdeaProbe from Vision One
- Is your concept appealing and understood?
Understanding what people value about your concept and the features and benefits that appeal. It will ensure you know if your concept is understood and what needs to be amended. It can also explain why some concepts fail and, therefore, ensure you don’t discard an idea too early. - It can save millions
Identifying weak product ideas is a real benefit of concept testing – it helps you avoid wasting a great deal of time and money on an idea, building a new factory or simply the harm it might do to your brand. - A rigorous and independent assessment
Concept tests provide a range of important indicators for your concept – from appeal and interest, perceived features and benefits, to price perceptions and even sales potential. The more boxes your concept ticks, the better the chance of success. - Improve your Idea
Perhaps a less obvious benefit of concept testing is that it can help develop the idea further, ensuring it is better suited to the target market. Running a quick concept test will not only tell you if the idea has potential but also where it might need improvement. - Identify the Target Market
Identifying who likes the concept the most and who is likely to be an early adopter is one of the most important benefits of Concept Testing. Why? Simply because it helps ensure marketing is properly focused and accurately identifies the market size.
How we help you achieve success
Over the years, we have developed a database of ‘norms’ against which concept tests can be evaluated, enabling us to interpret the results most effectively. However, unlike some off-the-shelf concept testing companies, we ensure every test is designed specifically to our client’s requirements to maximise value.
IdeaProbe goes beyond just testing ideas; it can include pricing evaluations to help determine the optimal price points for the new concept. Often, this process involves established pricing models such as BPTO (Brand Price Trade-Off) or the Price Sensitivity Meter by Van Westerdorp. Or by playing ‘purchasing games’ with respondents – providing broad-brush volumetric estimates.
With access to Central Location Testing (CLT) facilities across the UK and internationally, we are also well-placed to include product testing. IdeaProbe is designed to inform the development of new products by understanding customer reactions, helping optimise products and services. Our expertise and advanced market research techniques allow us to measure the potential demand for new products with confidence.
Latest client testimonials
The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Parfumery Association
We have appreciated the professional and efficient work of Vision One and the extremely informative outcomes
Silentnight (Beds, Mattresses and Sleep)
Vision One’s BrandVision has given us new and powerful insights – helping us understand our brand health and shape our strategic decisions going forward.
Power X (EV Charging)
We appreciate the great work your team has done, and it really helped us understand EV users in the UK
Vision One were an absolute pleasure to work with and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a strategic thinking market research agency. They had great client relations, they bought creative ideas to the table, and delivered on the strategic insight we needed.
Keolis Group (Public Transport)
Thank you for all the work you have done on this project, it was a really interesting report with some insights that I think will add fantastic value to the bid. It’s been great working with you
Midea UK (Electrical Appliances)
We also loved working with all the team and we hope to work again together soon
Family Holiday Charity
They excelled at project management, consistently meeting all deadlines and demonstrating flexibility when needed.
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Your NPD, innovation & concept testing questions answered
Concept testing is most valuable during the early stages of innovation or product development. It can be used to screen multiple ideas, refine a single concept, or validate a proposition before launch. Testing in the early phases ensures that decisions are guided by customer insight rather than assumptions.
Concept testing explores how customers react to an idea and whether it meets their needs. Questions often include how appealing the concept is, whether the proposition is clear, what customers like or dislike, how different it feels compared with other options, and whether they would consider purchasing it.
Concept testing can be conducted using a range of methods depending on the stage of development. These may are typically conducted online surveys to gather feedback from larger audiences, qualitative interviews to explore perceptions in depth, Central Location Tests to evaluate physical concepts, or workshops to refine ideas collaboratively.
Metrics will vary depending on the category and the nature of the idea. Concept testing typically measures factors such as appeal, relevance, differentiation, credibility, and purchase intent. These metrics provide a structured way to compare ideas and understand which concepts stand out and why.
Data integrity is at the heart of our research process. We are ISO 20252-accredited and utilise robust sampling frameworks, meticulous data validation techniques and continuous quality monitoring throughout the research lifecycle.
Every dataset undergoes thorough checks to ensure accuracy, reliability, and compliance with industry standards, including MRS, ESOMAR and GDPR guidelines.
Project timelines depend on the complexity and scope of the research. However, most projects are completed within 2 to 4 weeks, balancing speed with rigorous quality standards. Location testing (CLTs) will take slightly longer to book venues and arrange logistics.
- Concept Scoring & Ranking – Basic concept testing often starts with scoring concepts on key metrics such as appeal, relevance, differentiation, and purchase intent. These scores allow researchers to rank concepts and quickly identify the strongest and weakest ideas.
- Top Box / Top 2 Box Analysis – This analysis looks at the proportion of respondents giving the most positive ratings (e.g., “very appealing” or “very likely to buy”). It helps highlight which concepts generate the strongest enthusiasm.
- Purchase Intent Modelling – Purchase intent responses are analysed to estimate potential demand and compare the commercial potential of different concepts.
- TURF Analysis (Total Unduplicated Reach and Frequency) – TURF analysis is used when multiple concepts are being considered. It identifies the combination of concepts that will appeal to the widest possible audience, helping businesses prioritise ideas that maximise market reach.
- Driver Analysis – Driver analysis identifies which aspects of a concept most strongly influence appeal or purchase intent. This helps refine concepts by focusing on the features or benefits that matter most to customers.
- Segmentation Analysis – Concept testing results can be analysed by different customer segments to understand which ideas resonate most strongly with different groups, helping businesses target concepts more effectively.
- MaxDiff or Conjoint Analysis – More advanced techniques such as MaxDiff or Conjoint analysis can be used to understand preferences between features, benefits, or concept elements, helping optimise the final offering.
Here are seven leading research agencies offering concept testing in the UK and internationally.
- Vision One Research (IdeaProbe)
- Decision Analyst (ConceptScreen®, ConceptTest®)
- NIQ Bases
- Kantar (Marketplace)
- Ipsos
- Metrixlab
- Savanta
Vision One is committed to ethical practices in market research by adhering to industry standards and guidelines set by organisations such as the Market Research Society (MRS) and ESOMAR. This includes obtaining informed consent from participants, ensuring data confidentiality, and maintaining transparency throughout the research process.
By prioritising ethical considerations, Vision One builds trust with clients and participants alike, ensuring that the research conducted is not only effective but also responsible and respectful of individual rights.
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We are quick, responsive, and above all, our research is customised precisely to your needs, ensuring you get exactly what you need every time.
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