System to Quantify Consumer Preferences

• US 20100017268A1
• Filed: 09/28/2009
• Published: 01/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Truechoice IP Holding Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Truechoice Solutions, Inc.
• Inventors: Keil, Sev K. H., Wittink, Dick R., van der Scheer, Hiek Roelof
• Granted Patent: US 7,908,166 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls

Abstract

A user interface includes a plurality of selectable graphical elements, each of the graphical elements representing a respective attribute level of a product attribute, a first area for presenting at least one of the plurality of selectable graphical elements that has been designated by a respondent as representing an unacceptable attribute level, a second area for presenting one of the plurality of selectable graphical elements that has been designated by the respondent as representing a least-preferred attribute level, and a third area for presenting one of the plurality of selectable graphical elements that has been designated by the respondent as representing a most-preferred attribute level.

Claims

1-24. -24. (canceled)

25. A computer-implemented method comprising;

accessing, from a computer memory storage system, information related to a type of product;

based on the accessed information, identifying several attributes that are characteristic of the type of product, each identified attribute being associated with multiple-different possible values for the attribute;

generating, using a processing clement, a graphical user interface that presents, for each of multiple of the identified attributes that are characteristic of the type of product, selectable indications of multiple different possible values for the attribute and that enables a participant to provide indications of the participant'"'"'s preferences for possible values for the attribute relative to other possible values for the attribute via manipulation of the selectable indications of possible values for the attribute;

for each of the multiple attributes, receiving, as a result of participant manipulation of the selectable indications of possible values for the attribute presented in the graphical user interface, indications of the participant'"'"'s preferences for possible values for the attribute relative to other possible values for the attribute;

triggering, using a processing element, an updating of the graphical user interface to present selectable indications of each of the multiple attributes and to enable the participant to designate, from among the multiple attributes and via manipulation of the selectable indications of the multiple attributes, a set of attributes that are important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes;

receiving, as a result of participant manipulation of the selectable indications of the multiple attributes, indications of a set of attributes that the participant designated as important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes;

triggering, using a processing element, an updating of the graphical user interface to present indications of die attributes included within the set of attributes that the participant designated as important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes and to enable the participant to provide indications of the participant'"'"'s preferences for the attributes included within the set relative to other attributes within the set via manipulation of the graphical user interface;

receiving, as a result of participant manipulation of the graphical user interface, indications of the participant'"'"'s preferences for the attributes included within the set relative to other attributes included within the set;

based on the received indications of the participant'"'"'s preferences for the attributes included within the set of attributes that the participant designated as important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes, determining, using a processing element, an attribute that is most important to the participant from among the attributes included within the set of attributes that the participant designated as important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes;

based on received indications of the participant'"'"'s preferences for possible values for the attributes included within the set of attributes that the participant designated as important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes, determining, for each of the attributes included within the set of attributes that the participant designated as important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes, a possible value for the attribute that the participant most prefers;

based on received indications of the participant'"'"'s preferences for possible values for the attributes included within the set of attributes that the participant designated as important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes, determining, tor each of the attributes included within the set of attributes that the participant designated as important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes, a possible value that the participant least prefers;

triggering, using a processing element, an updating of the graphical user interface to present a tool that, for at least a first attribute included within the set of attributes that the participant designated as important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes, the first attribute being an attribute other than the attribute determined to be the most important attribute to the participant from among the attributes included within the set, enables the participant, via manipulation of the tool, to provide feedback regarding the significance of distinctions between the possible values that the participant most prefers and least prefers for the first attribute relative to distinctions between the possible values that the participant most prefers and least prefers for the attribute determined to be most important to the participant;

receiving, as a result of participant manipulation of the tool within the graphical user interface, feedback regarding the significance of distinctions between the possible values that the participant most prefers and least prefers for the first attribute relative to distinctions between the possible values that the participant most prefers and least prefers for the attribute determined to he most important to the participant;

calculating for the first attribute, using a processing element and based on the received feedback regarding the significance of distinctions between the possible values that the participant most prefers and least prefers for the first attribute relative to distinctions between the possible values that the participant most prefers and least prefers for the attribute determined to be most important to the participant, a weight for the first attribute;

for at least a second attribute included within the set of attributes that the participant designated as important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes, the second attribute being an attribute other than the first attribute and the attribute determined to he the most important attribute to the participant from among the attributes included within the set, calculating, using a processing element, a weight for the second attribute based on the received indications of the participant'"'"'s preferences for the attributes included within the set of attributes that the participant designated as important to the participant relative to other of the multiple attributes;

for each of at least some of the possible values for the first attribute, calculating, using a processing element, a utility of the possible value for the first attribute as a function of the calculated weight tor the first attribute and the received indication of the participant'"'"'s preference for the possible value for the first attribute relative to other possible values for the first attribute;

for each of at least some of the possible values for the second attribute, calculating, using a processing element, a utility of the possible value for the second attribute as a function of the calculated weight for the second attribute and the received indication of the participant'"'"'s preference for the possible value for the second attribute relative to other possible values for the second attribute; and

transmitting, using a processing element, at least some of the calculated utilities of the possible values for the first and second attributes to a computer system, to enable review of the transmitted utilities by a third party.