Article by: Mike York, COO

At some point, every research team realizes a hard truth: Consumers are terrible at answering this question: “Would you buy this?”

They are, however, excellent at answering this one: “Which of these do you prefer if you absolutely have to choose?”

That’s the entire premise of conjoint analysis. And yes, it’s more powerful than your last three surveys combined.

What Conjoint Actually Does (In Plain English)

Conjoint doesn’t ask people what they like. It asks them to make trade-offs.

Instead of:

“How important is price?” “How important is quality?” “How important is convenience?”

(Which everyone answers: “Very.”)

Conjoint says: “You can’t have all three. Now pick.”

And suddenly, like a spreadsheet column that wasn’t meant to be unhidden, the truth emerges.

Why Conjoint Exists (Because People Lie Nicely)

In traditional surveys, consumers:

• want to sound reasonable
• want to sound aspirational
• want to avoid disappointing you

So they say things like:

• “Price matters, but quality matters more”
• “I’d pay extra for sustainability”
• “I value innovation”

Conjoint removes the performance.

It forces consumers to reveal:

• what they actually sacrifice
• what they protect
• and what they abandon the second things get real

How Conjoint Works (The Non-Academic Version)

You give respondents a series of choices.

Each option includes:

• a combination of features
• different price points
• varying levels of benefit

They pick what they’d choose. Over and over.

It’s repetitive. It’s cognitively annoying. And that’s why it works.

People stop trying to be impressive and start being honest.

What You Get Out of Conjoint (The Good Stuff)

When done correctly, conjoint tells you:

• What actually drives choice (not what sounds good)
• Price sensitivity by feature (not in the abstract)
• Where premiumization breaks
• Which features are table stakes vs. differentiators
• What consumers will trade away first under pressure

This is why conjoint is beloved by:

• pricing teams
• product teams
• and anyone tired of opinion-based debates

What Conjoint Is Especially Good At

Conjoint shines when you need to answer questions like:

• “What happens if we raise price and remove this feature?”
• “Which benefit actually earns the premium?”
• “What combination wins, not just what scores well?”
• “Where does demand collapse?”

It’s a decision tool. Not a vibe check.

What Conjoint Is Bad At (Let’s Be Honest)

Conjoint is not good for:

• early-stage idea generation
• emotional storytelling
• understanding why something matters
• categories people don’t understand yet

If respondents don’t understand the attributes, they’ll:

• guess
• click randomly
• and ruin your model quietly

Conjoint assumes people can evaluate the choices. That’s a requirement, not a suggestion.

The Biggest Mistakes People Make With Conjoint

Let’s save you from yourself.

1. Too Many Attributes

If your conjoint has:

• 14 attributes
• 6 levels each

You should apologize to your audience immediately. You’ve built a survey hostage situation.

Respondents will:

• disengage
• shortcut
• and pick whatever is on the left

2. Unrealistic Combinations

If your conjoint includes:

• luxury features at bargain prices
• or nonsense bundles that would never exist

You’re measuring fantasy behavior. Reality matters.

3. Treating the Output Like a Verdict

Conjoint does not declare winners.

It provides:

• probabilities
• sensitivities
• and scenarios

It still requires interpretation. Yes, even here.

The Price Thing (Because Everyone Cares)

Conjoint is especially powerful for pricing because:

• It captures relative price tolerance
• It shows what price competes against
• It reveals which features earn forgiveness

But price is contextual.

A $5 increase can be:

• irrelevant in one bundle
• catastrophic in another

Conjoint shows you where the cliff is, not just that one exists.

How Smart Teams Actually Use Conjoint

The best teams don’t use conjoint to:

• “prove” a decision
• pick a single winner
• or end debate forever

They use it to:

• simulate scenarios
• pressure-test assumptions
• align stakeholders around trade-offs

Conjoint doesn’t kill discussion. It makes the right discussion unavoidable.

How Conjoint Fits Into a Modern Research Stack

Conjoint works best when paired with:

• qualitative work (to design the attributes)
• behavioral data (to validate outputs)
• expert interpretation (to avoid dumb conclusions)

On its own, it’s powerful. In context, it’s lethal (in a good way).

The Last Word

Conjoint analysis isn’t magic. It doesn’t predict the future. It doesn’t replace judgment. It doesn’t absolve you of risk.

What it does is force honesty.

It reveals:

• what people will actually give up
• what they protect at all costs
• and where your strategy breaks under pressure

If your business decisions depend on trade-offs (they do), and your research still treats preferences like absolutes (it shouldn’t), conjoint isn’t optional.

It’s overdue.

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SMARI is an award-winning Indiana-based market research consultancy that was founded in 1983 with the idea of guiding change and inspiring confidence. We are proud to work with SMEs as well as a variety of Fortune 500 brands. We are powered by our core values: integrity, community, perseverance, trust, passion, curiosity, and innovation. SMARI’s expertise encompasses complete project scopes, including instrument design, sampling & fielding services, reporting & analysis in the Healthcare, CPG, Retail, Food & Beverage, Manufacturing, and Financial Services industries, among others. Much has changed in our 40+ years, but our tagline and overarching mission remain the same—to guide change and inspire confidence. Start a conversation with us at www.SMARI.com.