TRIP: The Right Consumer for Integration in New Product Development – An Empirical Investigation into the Effectiveness of Lead Users, Passive Resistors and Emergent Nature Consumers
Final Report Abstract
Globalization and shorter product life cycles are intensifying pressure on companies to accelerate new product launches, leading to increased investment in research and development. However, failure rates remain high, indicating that many companies are still struggling to develop successful innovations. Against this background, numerous studies have highlighted the benefits of customer integration in new product development (NPD), revealing that it reduces the risk of new product failures. However, recent research suggests that the effectiveness of customer integration in NPD may be contingent upon the specific type of consumer being integrated, particularly in terms of their personality traits. However, there remains a dearth of empirical evidence regarding whether the integration of certain consumer types proves more effective in supporting NPD compared to others. Similarly, the potential benefits of integrating diverse consumer types in the development process, as opposed to focusing on a single type, remain underexplored. Additionally, the variation in effectiveness of involving different consumer types at various NPD stages and under different environmental conditions has not been thoroughly examined. To address these research gaps, this project aims to deepen our understanding of customer integration as a key driver of success in new product development and launch. Through a series of studies across three work programs, focusing on lead users, emergent nature consumers, and passive resistors, this research uncovers significant findings regarding the impact of various consumer types. First, results revealed that lead users emerge as the most effective type for exclusive NPD integration. Second, combining lead users (concept development) with passive resistors (concept adaptation) proved to be the most effective combination of consumers. Stage-specific findings reveal that lead users are most effective in the ideation stage of NPD, emergent nature consumers are highly effective during the development stage, and passive resistors contribute most during the delivery stage. Finally, the degree of environmental uncertainty significantly influences customer integration effectiveness during NPD. Passive resistors thrive in technologically turbulent environments, whereas lead users excel during market turbulence. The findings highlight the importance of tailored consumer selection in customer integration, demonstrating that a one-size-fits-all approach is inadequate. In practice, they offer companies a framework for selecting the appropriate consumer types for customer integration in NPD based on their specific needs.
Publications
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It takes two flints to make a fire - Empirical essays on how to manage customer co-creation successfully, Dissertation.
Jordanow, S.
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Variation makes the difference: Investigating the effectiveness of different customer types for co-creation in new product development, EMAC 2023, Odense, Denmark, May 2023.
Jordanow, S. & Heidenreich, S.
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Will the right customer please stand up - Investigating the effectiveness of different customer types for co-creation in new product development, 30th International Product Development Management Conference (IPDMC), Lecco, Italy, June 2023
Jordanow, S. & Heidenreich, S.
