News Release

'Emergent' consumers offer best new product concepts

Business Announcement

Marketing Science Institute

Some people are uniquely suited to develop new product ideas that will be well-received by consumers, write Donna Hoffman and Thomas Novak, University of California, Riverside, and Praveen Kopalle, Dartmouth College, in a recent study.

Using a combination of intuition and logical analysis, "high emergent nature" individuals can readily envision and evaluate how a product concept might be developed for marketplace success.

"These individuals instinctively 'get' what's attractive in a new product concept," noted Hoffman. "At the same time, they can de-construct and tweak a great idea to appeal to mainstream consumers."

In research supported by the Marketing Science Institute, the authors develop and test the emergent nature construct. Their study, "The 'Right' Consumers for the Best Concepts: Identifying and Using Emergent Consumers in Developing New Products," is forthcoming in MSI Reports.

Hoffman and colleagues develop measures of the constellation of traits and abilities that point to a high emergent nature. They find that such individuals synergistically employ high levels of experiential and rational thought; they also exhibit strong traits of reflectiveness, creativity, openness to experience, and visual processing.

In group and individual studies in two product categories (home delivery and dental care), the researchers compare new product concepts developed by emergent consumers with those developed by three other groups—lead users, consumers high in dispositional innovativeness, and average consumers.

The product concepts developed by those high in emergent nature were found to be significantly more appealing (and had a higher purchase likelihood) by mainstream consumers compared to concepts developed by the other groups.

The researchers' advice to companies? Identify emergent consumers and involve them in the new product development process. "Nearly half of new consumer products fail in the marketplace," Hoffman says. "Firms need better ways to turn promising ideas into solid new product successes. Emergent consumers may be invaluable in that process."

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About the Marketing Science Institute Founded in 1961, the Marketing Science Institute is a learning organization dedicated to bridging the gap between marketing science theory and business practice. MSI's worldwide network includes scholars from leading graduate schools of management and forward-looking managers from many of the world's most successful corporations. www.msi.org.


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