A toy store was aiming to increase sales while improving the satisfaction of its customers with the toys that it sold. As a part of this, it employed a market research company to measure both the initial appeal (which related to actual purchase) and the longer term satisfaction (which related to company image) of a range of toys for boys aged 5 to 10, both being scored on a one-to-ten scale. This limited sector was chosen to prevent excessive complexity and confusion in the analysis.
These were plotted on a matrix to identify the best toys to promote and to find possible ways of improving other toys. The axes were crossed at their mid-points to form value quadrants, as illustrated below.
As a result, improved packaging and promotion was sought for the better construction toys, in order to increase initial appeal, some bottom end toys were dropped, and the results of the survey were published in a form which customers could easily understand. The result was an increase in the reputation of the store as putting customer interests first, as evidenced by the increase in complimentary letters.