Concept and Product Testing Report: Oculus Rift VR Headset 2016 Launch

This report provides a detailed analysis of the concept and product testing procedures employed for the launch of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset in 2016. The report begins by defining concept testing, outlining its steps, and discussing its justifications and limitations. It then delves into product testing, covering research objectives, key information sought, target audience, and market research techniques such as focus groups. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding consumer preferences and feedback to refine product features and marketing strategies. It also explores the implementation of research, the justifications behind the testing, and the limitations of the product testing process, offering a comprehensive overview of the strategies employed to ensure a successful product launch.

CONCEPT AND PRODUCT
TESTING REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK A...........................................................................................................................................1
Defining and explaining concept testing................................................................................1
Steps for carrying out Concept Testing..................................................................................1
Justification and limitations of Concept testing procedure....................................................3
PART B PRODUCT TESTING......................................................................................................3
Research objectives for product testing..................................................................................4
Key information to find out....................................................................................................4
With whom the product testing is conducted.........................................................................4
Market research techniques....................................................................................................5
Implementation of research....................................................................................................5
Justifications...........................................................................................................................5
Limitation of product testing..................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Concept and product testing is a systematic and planned process of applying various
quantitative and qualitative methods to critically evaluate the customers responses related to the
product idea before the launching of that particular product in the market. In the present era of
information technology and globalisation, it becomes a mandatory aspect for each and every
company to effectively identify the three crucial aspects of conducting tests when introducing a
product innovation in the global corporate environment. These three tests includes concept
testing, product testing and market testing. With this context, the present report highlights the
concept and product testing for Oculus to launch its Rift- a virtual reality headset in 2016.
TASK A
Defining and explaining concept testing
Concept testing can be described as a systematic procedure of using qualitative as well as
quantitative methods to examine the responses of the target consumers in a significant way. The
testing method is applied to know about the customers preferences and opinions regarding the
product innovations prior to launching it in the global market. Concept testing is widely used to
generate effective communication in a manner which assist the company to alter the attitude and
behaviour of its consumers towards the existing products within the market place.
It is essential for each and every organisation to conduct concert testing in a systematic
and appropriate manner. Doing this would help the company to gain in-depth understanding
about the core needs and requirements of its target market along with their crucial responses
towards the product innovation and creativity (Neto & et.al., 2011).
With regard to the present case scenario, Oculus lays its significant concern over
effectively performing concept testing with a view to gain deep understanding about the
responses and feedbacks of its core customer in regard with the launching of its Rift- a virtual
reality headset in 2016.
Steps for carrying out Concept Testing Preparing concept statement- The said company starts its concept testing process by
laying its concern over preparing an effective concept statement. This includes defining
the innovative features along with its core advantages and disadvantages to its customers
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in large. By doing this, the concerned company helps in getting relevant responses in
context with the launching of its Rift in a significant way. Clarify specific purposes- Thereafter, the organisation focuses on clarifying its specific
purposes in context with the launching of its product in the global market place. Here the
company states the use of its new product to its core audience and helps in analysing the
success or failure of its product in the hyper competitive environment. Deciding formats- After specifying the purpose of its innovative product in the
competitive marketplace, the organisation lays its attention over deciding appropriate
formats in relation to putting suitable questions to its audience. This helps Oculus to gain
insight learning about the thoughts, ideas and opinions of its customers in a significant
way which will enable the company to prepare customer oriented products in an
impressive way (McNally, Akdeniz & Calantone, 2011).). Select commercialization- After deciding an appropriate format for putting relevant
questions, the concerned company emphasises on selecting suitable commercialization
methods to gain the attraction of its target market in a significant way. The company
makes use of launching its innovative product in the company's websites along with using
online advertisements in an effective manner. Determine price- Oculus lays its attention over deciding effective and competitive price
for its product. For setting a suitable price for its product, the company tends to adopt
pricing strategy in a significant way. It compares and evaluates the pricing strategy of its
core competitors and therefore sets cost plus pricing or competitive pricing for its
innovative product as per the circumstances. Select respondent type- The company thereafter focuses on selecting appropriate type of
respondent which helps it to gain the understanding of particular group of customers in a
significant way. Select response situation- After selecting the suitable types of respondents, the cited
organisation focuses on selecting appropriate measure for casting the needs and
requirements of its core audience in a significant way. For this, Oculus adopts relevant
measures which helps it to gain maximum customer satisfaction and immense market
share in an effective way (Runeson & Engström, 2012).
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 Define the interview- The next step which the company undertakes constitutes defining
and identifying the interview significantly. Here the company focuses on gaining the vital
needs and requirements of its core consumers and put efforts to beat its tough line of vital
competitors in a significant way. Doing this enables the company to make an exotic
global exposure of its innovative product in the hyper competitive environment. Conduct trial interview-After deciding the interview, Oculus lays its concern over
conducting trail interview with a view to protect the interests and demands of its
innovative product in the global corporate environment. This helps the company to avoid
wastage of its funds thereby assisting it to gain its competitive edge in the vast
international economies (Fuller, 2011).
 Analysing the interview- This is the last step in concept testing procedure. Analysing the
interview constitutes as one of the most important step in the entire testing process. By
examining and analysing the interview, the company becomes aware of the responses and
feedbacks which it gets from its target market in regard of its innovative and new product
launched in the corporate and competitive market place.
Justification and limitations of Concept testing procedure
The concept testing procedure has proved beneficial for the concerned company in a
manner that it has benefited the organisation in an impressive way. The company is effectively
able to reach the leading heights of success thereby gaining higher economies of scale in a
significant way. Contrary to this, the said process also has the drawback that it is a time
consuming and expensive process and enables the company to increase its overall cost of
production in a significant way.
PART B PRODUCT TESTING
Product testing can be set as the way through which process could be measured in
relation to assess the performance of products. It helps in testing the developed product in the
market so that people could be attracted and thus sales can be enhanced. Further, through
demonstrating the product among target consumers helps in advertising the product and its
features so that target market can be satisfied (Luchs & Swan, 2011).
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Research objectives for product testing
In order to carry out product test in market there are basic four main reasons-
 Advertising claims- It helps management of Oculus to develop advertising claims so that
comparative claim can be made regarding the developed product as it unique and thus
there no similar product available in market.
 Cost saving/process testing- Company is required to minimize its cost so that it can be
provided to customers at affordable prices and thus attract them towards the product.
 Product advancement- Further, gaining feedback from consumers helps in developing
the product or improving the technology so that success can be attained.
 Threat of competitors- In this the competitor launches a new product in market and thus
it becomes the threat so that existing product needs to be designed effectively in order to
become competitive (Oster, 2012).
Key information to find out
It is essential for scholar to assess the main reason regarding the launching of product and
the attractiveness of consumers towards the product. Therefore, they find out the benefits of the
product which would help gadget freaks to utilize the same in order to experience virtual reality.
Also, persons prefer to play video games would like to be involved in experiencing so that
product testing could be successful. It will assist in evaluating that the use of Oculus will help
technology friendly people to experience a new world of virtual reality. Therefore, researcher
would like to find out crucial information about the Oculus so that best results can be obtained in
the form of success. Company is required to assess the information regarding the acceptance of
product in market and for that they are required to carry out product testing so that attractiveness
of consumers can be identified (Perrouin & et.al., 2012).
With whom the product testing is conducted
The product testing regarding Oculus will be conducted upon technology freak so that
they could give their opinion upon the product and thus company could focus upon improving
the technology or features so that results can be attained. Also, the product could be provided to
youth in order to gain their potential feedback and thus it could be improved significantly. Thus,
through carrying out such type of product testing upon these people helps in enhancing the
results in the form of success. Also, the product can be tested upon the managers of gaming
company so that they can inform regarding the improvement required and thus enhance the sales
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of firm. Thus, through carrying out testing upon such people it assists in improving the product
so that success can be attained.
Market research techniques
A market investigation technique is mainly based upon some prior methods of consumer
research with a major requisition of analysis their response towards a newly launched product.
Here in the present scenario, Oculus has opted for a quanlitative measure of testing the
behaviour of the users via a significant method of focusing upon groups. Focus group is a
renowned methods being used by a firm at a time of either launching a new product or modifying
any exiting one (Weaver and Ailor, 2012). This method is therefore based on a pre-defined set of
questionnaires where there are some open ended questions for the participants. Oculus has
invited around 7-8 active participants who were primarily assigned to utilize their product. It will
be now an audio scripted interview with them to ascertain and jot down their real experiences.
Implementation of research
Here, it assesses that the research could be implemented through experiencing the youth
and thus technology could be improved which helps in enhancing the results. However, at the
time of implementing the research upon Oculus it faces various issues in relation to test the
product in the market and thus found technology friendly people so that feedbacks could be
collected. However, it is essential for firm to implement the assessed research effectively so that
desired results could be attained. Being a research it is essential to ask various questions from
interviewee so that they could effectively respond towards the product and give proper feedback
in relation to the virtual reality concept. Also, they will share their information so that product
could be improved effectively and efficiently and achieve success in market (Shi, Cohen &
Dwyer, 2012).
Justifications
It can be assessed that the present research regarding Oculus needs to carried out
effectively so that technology could be improved effectively. It is essential for company to
improve the technology so that develop product could fulfil the needs of technology friendly
people. Also, the innovative technology will help in enhancing the results and thus product will
attract large base of customers which will improve the sale of product in future.
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Limitation of product testing
Product testing is amongst the most valuable research in marketing which duly gives a
prior recognition of the efficiency of their recently launched product. It together gives a
competitive advantage to the firm where Oculus have used a numerable contemporary tricks and
techniques. It therefore comprises with some major benefits of acquiring a relevant data from its
actual customer spending which duly minimizes the risk of affording the expenditure of full
launch. It is due to any uncertainty of failure which can be priorly determined by the above
carried activity of research (Luchs & Swan, 2011). However, a prior requisition of making large
investment of funds has been discovered as a major drawback for the cited firm.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the study that product and concept testing is required to be done
effectively so that best results can be attained. Also, Oculus will prove to be a new revolution in
the field of virtual reality and thus it will attract various customers to purchase the product and
experience the same.
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REFERENCES
Fuller, G. W. (2011). New food product development: from concept to marketplace. CRC Press.
Luchs, M., & Swan, K. S. (2011). Perspective: The Emergence of Product Design as a Field of
Marketing Inquiry*. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 28(3), 327-345.
McNally, R. C., Akdeniz, M. B., & Calantone, R. J. (2011). New product development processes
and new product profitability: Exploring the mediating role of speed to market and
product quality. Journal of Product Innovation Management. 28(s1). 63-77.
Neto, P. S. & et.al., (2011). A systematic mapping study of software product lines testing.
Information and Software Technology. 53(5). 407-423.
Oster, S. (2012). Feature Model-based Software Product Line Testing.
Perrouin, G. & et.al., (2012). Pairwise testing for software product lines: comparison of two
approaches. Software Quality Journal, 20(3-4), 605-643.
Runeson, P., & Engström, E. (2012). Software Product Line Testing--A 3D Regression Testing
Problem. In Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST), 2012 IEEE Fifth
International Conference on (pp. 742-746). IEEE.
Shi, J., Cohen, M. B., & Dwyer, M. B. (2012). Integration testing of software product lines using
compositional symbolic execution. In Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering
(pp. 270-284). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Weaver, M.A. and Ailor, W.H., 2012, September. Reentry Breakup Recorder: Concept, Testing,
Moving Forward. In AIAA Space 2012 Conference and Exposition (pp. 11-13).
Online
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