The Importance of Customer Input in the Development of Very New Products

This research explores the acquisition of customer input and its importance in the development of very new products. Data were gathered on 55 product development projects from the computer telephony integration industry - a new industry experiencing rapid technological change. The data were used to test hypotheses concerning the relationships between product newness, the importance of customer input in the development process, and the use of customer intensive market research methods. We found that the importance of customer input increases with market newness of a product up to a point and then drops off for very new products, whereas, the importance of customer input increases with technological newness of a product without dropping off. We also found that the importance of customer input significantly increases the use of customer intensive market research methods; whereas, neither market nor technological product newness in themselves had much direct effect on research methods.

[1]  Yikuan Lee,et al.  The Impact of Communication Strategy on Launching New Products: The Moderating Role of Product Innovativeness , 2003 .

[2]  Joe Tidd,et al.  The Influence of Project Novelty on the New Product Development Process , 2002 .

[3]  Rosanna Garcia,et al.  A critical look at technological innovation typology and innovativeness terminology: a literature review , 2002 .

[4]  Erwin Danneels,et al.  Product innovativeness from the firm's perspective: Its dimensions and their relation with project selection and performance , 2001 .

[5]  Donna J. Kelley,et al.  Radical innovation: triggering initiation of opportunity recognition and evaluation , 2001 .

[6]  John Callahan,et al.  Reducing software product development time , 2001 .

[7]  John C. Narver,et al.  Market‐oriented is more than being customer‐led , 1999 .

[8]  Tom Connor,et al.  Customer‐led and market‐oriented: a matter of balance , 1999 .

[9]  John C. Narver,et al.  Strategic Management Journal Research Notes and Communications Customer-led and Market-oriented: Let's Not Confuse the Two , 2022 .

[10]  Richard C. Dorf,et al.  The Technology Management Handbook , 1998 .

[11]  Robert W. Veryzer.  Discontinuous innovation and the new product development process , 1998 .

[12]  D. Corkindale,et al.  Co-developing products: Involving customers earlier and more deeply , 1998 .

[13]  M. Montoya-Weiss,et al.  Critical development activities for really new versus incremental products , 1998 .

[14]  G. O'Connor.  Market learning and radical innovation: A cross case comparison of eight radical innovation projects , 1998 .

[15]  Robert W. Veryzer.  Key factors affecting customer evaluation of discontinuous new products , 1998 .

[16]  V. Rao,et al.  Minimizing Technological Oversights: A Marketing Research Perspective , 1998 .

[17]  V. Mahajan,et al.  Editorial: Issues and Opportunities in New Product Development: An Introduction to the Special Issue , 1997 .

[18]  Vijay Mahajan,et al.  Issues and Opportunities in New Product Development: An Introduction to the Special Issue , 1997 .

[19]  Gary L. Lilien,et al.  Technological innovation: Minimizing technological oversights: A marketing research perspective , 1997 .

[20]  G. Lynn,et al.  Marketing and Discontinuous Innovation: The Probe and Learn Process , 1996 .

[21]  Robert Kevin Grigsby.  "Wellsprings of Knowledge: Building and Sustaining the Sources of Innovation" , 1996 .

[22]  Stuart Macdonald,et al.  Too Close for Comfort?: The Strategic Implications of Getting Close to the Customer , 1995 .

[23]  K. Eisenhardt,et al.  Accelerating Adaptive Processes: Product Innovation in the Global Computer Industry , 1995 .

[24]  D. Leonard-Barton,et al.  Wellsprings of Knowledge: Building and Sustaining the Sources of Innovation , 1995 .

[25]  Susan Ciccantelli,et al.  From experience: Consumer idealized design: Involving consumers in the product development process , 1993 .

[26]  J. Magidson,et al.  Consumer Idealized Design: Involving Consumers in the Product Development Process , 1993 .

[27]  Roy Rothwell,et al.  SAPPHO updated - project SAPPHO phase II , 1993 .

[28]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Market Orientation: The Construct, Research Propositions, and Managerial Implications , 1990 .

[29]  Barry W. Boehm,et al.  A spiral model of software development and enhancement , 1986, Computer.

[30]  D. Campbell.  Task Complexity: A Review and Analysis , 1988 .

[31]  R. Cooper,et al.  New Products: What Separates Winners from Losers? , 1987 .

[32]  E. Hippel,et al.  Lead users: a source of novel product concepts , 1986 .

[33]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  The Dimensions of Industrial New Product Success and Failure , 1979 .

[34]  P. Rabbit.  Human information processing , 1977, Nature.

[35]  P. H. Lindsay.  Human Information Processing , 1977 .