Concept testing

SCREENING

IDEA GENERATION

PHASES OF NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Comprehension check.

1. What is taken into consideration when classifying industrial products?

2. What categories do these consumer and industrial products refer to? Consult the dictionary to translate unfamiliar words.

1) Bread, gasoline, newspapers, soft drinks, chewing gum.

2) Unique sport cars, a specific type of antique dining table, rarely imported beer, special handcrafted stereo speakers.

3) Appliances, upholstered furniture, men’s suits, bicycles.

4) Lathes, cranes, stamping machines.

5) Clocks, tires, switches.

6) Paper, pencils, cleaning agents.

7) Financial, legal, marketing research and janitorial services.

8) Basic materials that actually become a part of a physical product.

Before a new product is introduced, it goes through seven phases. The Figure below depicts the evolutionary nature of new-product development.

Idea generation involves looking for product ideas that will help a firm achieve its objectives. Although some organizations get their ideas almost by chance, firms trying to maximize product-mix effectiveness usu­ally systematically generate new-product ideas. Ideas may come from marketing managers, researchers, engineers, competitors, advertising agencies, management consul­tants, private research organizations, or customers.

During screening, ideas that do not match organiza­tional resources and objectives are rejected. At this stage, firms must ask whether they can develop and market a product. Management may reject a good idea because the company lacks needed skills and abilities. A lot of product ideas are rejected during the scree­ning phase.

Concept testing is a phase in which a small group of potential buyers is presented with a product idea through a written or oral description (and perhaps a few drawings) to determine their attitudes and initial buying intentions regarding the product. An organization can test one or several concepts of the same product. Concept testing is a low-cost means for an organization to determine con­sumers’ initial reactions to a product idea prior to invest­ing considerable resources in product research and deve­lopment. Product development personnel can use the re­sults of concept testing to improve product attributes and product benefits that are most important to potential cus­tomers. The types of questions asked vary considerably depending on the type of product idea tested. Examples of typical questions are the following:

· Which benefits of the proposed product are espe­cially attractive to you?

· Which features are of little or no interest to you?

· What are the primary advantages of the proposed product over the one you currently use?

· If this product were available at an appropriate price, how often would you buy it?

· How could this proposed product be improved?

Дата добавления: 2014-11-29