Studying Positioning and Repositioning of Brands Using Multidimensional Scaling

Positioning and repositioning continue to be critical topics in business strategy, and yet a review of current business research syllabi from several institutions showed that very few institutions teach the analytical underpinnings of how perceptual maps can be created using multidimensional scaling and how they should be interpreted. At the outset, the author defines multidimensional scaling and reviews various software packages that are available to create such maps, followed by an overview of a sample assignment. Then the benefits to the students are discussed, followed by extensions in graduate and in online classes as well as the impact and effectiveness of the teaching innovation.