Claims testing you can substantiate

From ideation and validation to substantiation and refresh—claims testing with real consumers in context, so messaging matches what products actually deliver.

Claims testing & substantiation

Highlight AIFinding

"24-hour hydration" motivates buy and survives scrutiny.

+27 pts
motivation lift
74%
believe

Claims that drive intent

Top claim lifts purchase intent +27 pts vs control

Built for innovators. Loved by product teams. Trusted by leading brands.

Claims testing from first draft to on-pack substantiation

Tested in context

See how your target audience actually perceives and responds to claims in their natural environment — not a lab or survey setting.

Multiple variations at once

Test claim variations simultaneously to find the messaging that creates the strongest emotional connection and purchase intent.

Promise meets performance

Measure the match between consumer expectations and actual product experience, so your product delivers on every claim.

Why teams run claims testing before launch

Claims testing validates which messages resonate and whether products deliver on them—critical for FTC substantiation, retailer review, and avoiding the trust damage of oversold promises.

• Claims testing in-home so consumers judge language against real product experience
• MaxDiff and monadic designs to rank claim options with statistical rigor
• Claim substantiation testing with ASTM-aligned protocols for competent and reliable scientific evidence

How Highlight does it

How leading brands validate claims with confidence

01
Root claims in the physical product experience Perceptual claims from real consumers are one of the strongest tools for launching with social-proofed messaging that drives trial. In-home testing captures honest reactions your team can use to ideate claims or narrow the list.

02
Meet the highest substantiation standards Quantitative methodology in adherence with ASTM standards — monadic, or head-to-head with a competitor while Highlight’s logistics team handles the blinding. Protocols align with the FTC’s “Competent and Reliable Scientific Evidence” requirement.

03
Keep claims accurate over time Consumers, categories, and competitors evolve — your claims must too. Subscription plans and multi-project dashboards make a regular claims-testing cadence easy to maintain.

Case study · Wile

How Wile tested supplement claims with real users in their target condition

• Efficacy, symptom relief, and purchase-intent claims validated in a single 30-day study
• Actionable data in 5 weeks from kickoff for an in-market product
• 100+ authentic consumer reviews ready for marketing from day one
• 103% completion rate on a month-long longitudinal study

Read the case study

Getting started is simple

1. Design your test
   Define your objectives, create your survey, and set parameters for your ideal testers.

2. We ship your products
   We handle recruitment and distribution to get your products into the right homes.

3. See your data instantly
   Feedback streams into the platform and becomes actionable insight as it arrives.

Use cases for claims testing

• New product launch validation
  Confirm claims resonate and reflect real experience before you invest in a full launch.

• Reformulation impact assessment
  Verify existing claims still hold — and find new ones — when the formula changes.

• Sensory claim substantiation
  Confirm “silky smooth” or “fresh scent” matches what consumers actually perceive.

• Long-term efficacy validation
  Capture consumer-reported results at intervals to back time-based claims.

Common claims testing & substantiation questions

What is claims testing?

Claims testing is the process of validating which product claims resonate with consumers and whether the product experience supports them—before you print packaging or run ads. Highlight runs claims testing in-home so feedback reflects real usage, not hypothetical survey responses.

What types of claims can I test?

Virtually any product claim — efficacy, performance, sensory attributes, comparative superiority, even emotional benefits. “Lasts 24 hours,” “gentler than leading brands,” “improves texture in 2 weeks” — if it’s a promise, it can be validated.

What’s the difference between claims testing and substantiation?

Testing discovers which claims resonate and drive purchase intent during development. Substantiation provides the rigorous, quantitative evidence that your product delivers on the specific claims you’ll market. Highlight supports both.

What if my product doesn’t perform as expected?

That’s valuable — detailed feedback shows exactly why, whether it’s formulation, misaligned expectations, or messaging that oversells. Adjust before launch instead of learning through negative reviews and returns.

How fast can I get claims data?

Highlight delivers decision-ready data in as little as 14 days from project kickoff — compared to 6–8 weeks for traditional research agency timelines. A selective 48% community acceptance rate and continuous quality monitoring keep junk data to 1–2%, versus the ~30% common in traditional surveys, so speed never comes at the cost of substantiation-grade quality.

Get the data to demonstrate real results and efficacy

Your audience will judge your product promises either way — know what they think before launch, not after.