What does it mean when my brand has high preference scores among customers, but it has relatively low market share in the map?

This dilemma is referred to as the mind-share, market-share problem. The product itself is highly preferred, but a competitor might be perceived to be just a little better, and the market gravitates to the competitor (e.g., the classic Avis versus Hertz story).

This situation is most likely to occur when using the “first-choice” rule to compute market share.

In this situation, the firm could explore several possible strategies: For example, it could consider targeting a niche segment within the broader target segment that clearly prefers the firm’s product over that of the better competitor, or it could develop its product features (i.e., re-position the product) in a way that it appeals to more customers in the target segment, and at the same time, the new position is not attractive for the competitor(s) due to the possibility they could lose substantial market share.