RESULT OBTAINED
03 · Attractiveness
Market attractiveness: compare a market before calling it attractive
What must be established
A useful analysis leaves its controls visible.
- 01
Compare the same criteria across credible alternatives.
- 02
Keep weights, evidence quality and missing information visible.
- 03
Separate market attractiveness from the organisation’s ability to win.
Decision checkpoint
Make the next choice explicit.
DECISION SUPPORTED
Attractive for whom, under which option and compared with what?
DELIVERABLE TO RETAIN
A criterion-based comparison with sensitivity and review thresholds.
NEXT ITEM TO INVESTIGATE
Ability to winExplore →Separate market potential, accessibility and ability to win
Attractiveness describes external market characteristics: demand, growth, accessible margin, stability, competition and risk. Access depends on channels, rules and lead times. Ability to win depends on the organisation. Keep the three diagnostics separate so that an internal strength cannot artificially offset an unfavourable market.
- External attractiveness
- Accessibility
- Ability to win
- Strategic fit
Document the illustrative calculation
The tool calculates a teaching score out of 100: 10 × [0.30 × growth + 0.30 × margin + 0.20 × (10 − competition) + 0.20 × (10 − risk)]. Scores from 0 to 10 and weights are working assumptions, not observations. In a real analysis, every score needs a definition, unit, source, date and rationale.
- Common 0-to-10 scale
- Weights sum to 1
- Inverted criteria are explicit
- Simulated page data
Test sensitivity and the review threshold
Recalculate the ranking with several weight sets and low, central and high values. If a plausible one-point change or a ten-point weight shift reverses the priority, the result is fragile and requires more evidence. Reopen the decision when a source changes, an access constraint moves or a scenario changes the ranking.
- Low, central and high scenarios
- Alternative weights
- Correlated criteria controlled
- Unstable ranking flagged
04 · ORIGINAL ASSET
Risk-sensitive market attractiveness index
Multi-criteria calculation
Growth and margin add potential; competitive intensity and structural risk reduce the score.
Attractiveness score65/100
30% growth + 30% margin + 20% inverted competition + 20% inverted risk.
Teaching case · simulated data · no real-world market conclusion.
Application protocol
Turn the method into a reviewable decision record.
The page is complete only when another reviewer can reproduce the boundary, trace the evidence and understand what would change the conclusion.
Frame before measuring
Name the owner, decision, alternatives, unit, geography and horizon before collecting figures. This prevents a convenient source or familiar category from silently defining the problem.
- Decision and owner
- Comparable options
- Unit, boundary and horizon
Separate observation from judgement
Record every observation with source, date, method and unit. Keep transformation rules, scores and weights apart from the evidence so that disagreement can target the right layer.
- Observed evidence
- Calculation convention
- Assumption and confidence
Plan the reopening rule
State the signal, threshold, owner and review date that would reopen the choice. A robust conclusion is conditional and operational; it is not made permanent by a polished score.
- Material signal
- Decision threshold
- Owner and review date
- European Commission, Composite Indicators (opens in a new tab)Institutional framework for construction, weighting, robustness and cautious interpretation of composite indicators.
- OECD, Competition Assessment Toolkit, volume 2 (opens in a new tab)Official guidance for examining potential competition, barriers and structure rather than isolated potential.
01Explicit scope
Unit, horizon and boundaries are visible.
02Qualified evidence
Source, date, method and confidence are recorded.
03Sensitivity tested
Weights and assumptions that reverse the result are known.
04Review planned
Signal, threshold, date and owner are named.
RETURN TO THE DECISION SYSTEM
See the canonical definition of marketing strategy→