At Yonder Data Solutions, we transform customer preferences into strategic business decisions through MaxDiff analysis; a sophisticated research technique trusted by research professionals, and business leaders across industries. Our combination of quality data collection, expert teams, and advanced analytics delivers insights that identify precisely what drives peoples choices, not just what they claim to prefer.
What is MaxDiff?
MaxDiff (Maximum Difference Scaling) is a survey based approach that reveals true customer priorities by asking participants to select the most and least important options from carefully designed sets.
Unlike traditional rating scales where respondents can rate everything as “important,” MaxDiff forces meaningful trade-offs that mirror real-world decision-making. This approach eliminates response bias, prevents scale inconsistencies, and produces statistically robust rankings that clearly differentiate between what customers truly value versus what they merely appreciate.
The result? Actionable data that confidently guides your strategic investments.
Key benefits of MaxDiff analysis:
- Revealed Priorities: Uncovers true customer preferences by forcing trade-offs, showing not just what customers like, but what they value enough to choose over alternatives.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Provides statistically robust rankings that enable confident decision making.
- Elimination of Survey Biases: Overcomes the limitations of traditional rating scales
- Practical Implementation: Integrates seamlessly with your existing research methods while delivering superior insights through our expert analysis and reporting.
- Actionable Results: Translates complex preference data into clear, prioritised recommendations that your team can immediately apply to business challenges.
Methodology
- TBC
Timings
- TBC
Deliverables
- TBC
CASE STUDY
Get in touch for more information about MaxDiff analysis
Our data experts can design and implement a MaxDiff analysis for your business to provide you with clear insights that enhance your decision-making. For more details, please contact Daniel Singham, Commercial Director:
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See below for in-depth information on our survey programming and hosting services.
MaxDiff FAQs
When should you use MaxDiff analysis?
Use MaxDiff when you need to discover what truly matters to customers by forcing them to make trade-offs between options. This research technique excels when evaluating long lists of features or benefits that can’t all be prioritised equally, revealing statistically reliable preference data without the scale bias found in traditional surveys. MaxDiff is particularly valuable for product development, policy prioritisation, brand positioning, or marketing decisions where understanding relative importance delivers competitive advantage.
You should use MaxDiff when you need to accurately prioritise customer preferences, especially if you’re dealing with a long list of options that cannot all be rated equally. It is ideal for product development, pricing strategies, brand positioning and marketing decisions – forcing respondents to make trade-offs that eliminate scale bias found in traditional ranking surveys.
How are MaxDiff scores calculated?
MaxDiff scores are calculated by analysing how often each item is chosen as ‘most preferred’ minus how often it’s chosen as ‘least preferred’ across all survey respondents. These raw scores are then refined using advanced Hierarchical Bayes (HB) analysis, to accurately identify respondent preferences. The resulting scores are standardised – typically on a scale where items are on a 0-100 scale – allowing for direct comparison between items. For example, on a ratio scale, an item scoring 50 would be twice as preferred as an item scoring 25.
Who can benefit from MaxDiff analysis?
A wide range of companies can benefit from MaxDiff analysis including:
- Businesses seeking evidence-based insights into customer priorities rather than just stated preferences
- Product teams needing to identify which features truly drive purchasing decisions and warrant premium pricing
- Marketing strategists looking to discover the specific brand attributes that resonate most with target audiences to focus messaging and promotional strategies
- Retailers optimising product assortments and shelf space based on actual customer preferences
- Service providers prioritising experience improvements that will deliver maximum impact on satisfaction
What is the difference between MaxDiff and Conjoint analysis
MaxDiff identifies the relative importance or preference of a long list of items while Conjoint analysis measures how customers value different combinations of product features and their trade-offs. MaxDiff excels at creating clean preference rankings for concepts, messages, or attributes, making it ideal for prioritisation decisions.
Conjoint is better when you need to understand how features interact or impact willingness to pay. Choose MaxDiff when you need a straightforward ranking of preferences without the complexity of feature interactions.
How can I get started with MaxDiff?
If you have any further questions about our MaxDiff services or would like to discuss how we can help you implement MaxDiff analysis into your business, please contact our friendly team today at hello@yonderdatasolutions.com or call +44 (0) 20 7253 9900.
