ORIGINAL PAPER Using Conjoint Analysis to Measure the Acceptability of Rectal Microbicides Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Four South American Cities Janni J. Kinsler • William E. Cunningham • Ce ´sar R. Nuren ˜a • Carsten Nadjat-Haiem • Beatriz Grinsztejn • Martin Casapia • Orlando Montoya-Herrera • Jorge Sa ´nchez • Jerome T. Galea Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract Conjoint Analysis (CJA), a statistical market- based technique that assesses the value consumers place on product characteristics, may be used to predict accept- ability of hypothetical products. Rectal Microbicides (RM)—substances that would prevent HIV infection dur- ing receptive anal intercourse—will require acceptability data from potential users in multiple settings to inform the development process by providing valuable information on desirable product characteristics and issues surrounding potential barriers to product use. This study applied CJA to explore the acceptability of eight different hypothetical RM among 128 MSM in Lima and Iquitos, Peru; Guayaquil, Ecuador; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Overall RM accept- ability was highest in Guayaquil and lowest in Rio. Product effectiveness had the greatest impact on acceptability in all four cities, but the impact of other product characteristics varied by city. This study demonstrates that MSM from the same region but from different cities place different values on RM characteristics that could impact uptake of an actual RM. Understanding specific consumer preferences is cru- cial during RM product development, clinical trials and eventual product dissemination. Keywords HIV Á MSM Á Rectal microbicides Á Acceptability Á Conjoint analysis Resumen El Ana ´lisis Conjunto (CJA por sus siglas en ingle ´s) es una te ´cnica estadı ´stica de mercadotecnia que sirve para evaluar la valoracio ´ n que los consumidores otorgan a las caracterı ´sticas de un producto, y que puede ser usada para predecir la aceptabilidad de productos hipote ´ticos. Para el desarrollo de microbicidas rectales (MR)—sustancias que podrı ´an prevenir la infeccio ´n por VIH durante el coito anal receptivo—es necesario contar con datos de aceptabilidad, caracterı ´sticas deseadas y probables barreras para el empleo de MR por usuarios potenciales, en mu ´ltiples escenarios. J. J. Kinsler (&) Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, 650 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, USA e-mail: jkinsler@yahoo.com W. E. Cunningham Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA C. R. Nuren ˜a Escuela de Antropologı ´a, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru C. Nadjat-Haiem Department of Anesthesiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA B. Grinsztejn Evandro Chagas Clinical Research Institute, Fundac ¸a ˜o Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil M. Casapia Asociacio ´n Civil Selva Amazo ´nica, Iquitos, Peru O. Montoya-Herrera Fundacio ´n Ecuatoriana Equidad, Guayaquil, Ecuador J. Sa ´nchez Asociacio ´n Civil Impacta Salud y Educacio ´n, Lima, Peru J. T. Galea Program in Global Health, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA 123 AIDS Behav DOI 10.1007/s10461-011-0045-5