The perceptual map is not available when no brands are marketed. However, you may still obtain information on segment needs from the semantic scales study. Let’s take an example and assume that Innovators consumers have indicated that they are looking for products with a large number of Apps, i.e. their ideal point is at 5.5 on the 1 to 7 scale. Our best option is to assume that there exists a linear relationship between the number of Apps (from 5 to 100) and semantic scales, i.e. that the lowest number of Apps (5) would be rated 1, and that the highest number (100) would be rated 7. In this case, the formula to convert the ideal 5.5 into a number of Apps is:
The general formulas are:
where P is the desired value on the 1 to 7 scale; X is the corresponding physical level; and LB and UB are the lower and upper limits of the physical characteristic’s feasible range.
This method, although imperfect, allows you to make approximations until more data becomes available over time.