Assignment #16
1. Explain why consumer market testing might not always be beneficial.
Consumer market testing cannot be beneficial because sometimes it is costly and the methods used to
collect information about the reactions to new products are labor-intensive. Test marketing enables
firms to minimize losses but not to maximize profits and this is the main reason for doing a marketing
test.
2. We are told that many new products fail, but is this because many firms are impatient? Discuss
whether firms should allow more time for their product to be adopted and whether they would end up
with a successful product.
A new product can fail on the market because it does not create real value and therefore cannot find
customers. Or a new product can fail internally because development, implementation, and marketing
do not function perfectly. The idea can be good and perfect, but if the innovation process doesn't work,
it.
[Link] why discontinuous new products present a different challenge.
Present a different challenge. A new product is launched, totally different from the previous, leading to a
significant change in consumption habits. Example: Disposable sanitizing tissues to be used on the body
instead of the shower or bath. Discontinuous innovations, as opposed to incremental innovations, build
on new knowledge, resources, and competencies and are completely new to firms in the sector
Discontinuous innovations may also require new markets or significant changes in existing markets,
and/or new marketing skills for firms. Therefore, these innovations often require new business models
to succeed in the marketplace; new business models can even be considered a crucial part of
discontinuous innovation, illustrating that discontinuous innovations go beyond just technological
advances.
4. Show why the more radical the innovation, the greater the pertinence of qualitative market research
techniques (e.g. customer visits and focus groups)??
Qualitative research is in-depth research using a range of techniques, which aims to understand why
people think, feel, react and behave in the way that they do. Samples tend to be small in the case of
qualitative interviewing and even focus groups because the aim is to generate concepts, strategies.
[Link] whether there do exist innovations, typically radical, where market research of almost any
kind is premature, not cost-justified or of limited value?
There is a clear dilemma facing firms – market research may reveal genuine limitations with the new
product that may create a completely new market. The role of market research in the development of
new products is commonly accepted and well understood. There are times, however, when market
research results produce negative reactions.
[Link] the advantages of the tripartite product concept in developing new products.
The advantage of the product concept is that you can continually innovate and improve your product in
such a way that you remain ahead of the competition. A disadvantage of focusing too narrowly on your
product alone is that you may fall into the “marketing myopia” trap.
[Link] the dilemma faced by all firms of trying to listen to customers’ needs and wants and, yet, also
trying to develop new products for those customers that they do not yet serve.
Listening to customers may be a great way for you to gather enough business-important information. ...
And customer feedback is one of the best ways to gather business-specific data that lets you understand
how your customers feel about the product or service you A need is a consumer's desire for a product's
or service's specific benefit, whether that be functional or emotional. A want is a desire for products or
services that are not necessary, but which consumers wish for. Everyone in the world has wants and
needs, which are different for each person.” Define wants and needs. Wants are desires for goods and
services we would like to have but do not need. ... Needs are a special kind of want and refer to things
we must have to survive, such as food, water, and shelter.
[Link] why some writers argue that organisations are the graveyard of product innovations rather
than the birthplace?
For every marketing executive, the necessity and value of test marketing are often murky issues. The
problem is partly that new products aren’t developed and put through their paces in a systematic
enough way to let marketing men know when a test market is really in order. Compounding this
difficulty is that the goals of test marketing are sometimes unclear and that the information, once
gathered, is often improperly used. This article is an attempt to lay bare the bones of the issue.
Beginning with an overview of sound new product development, it clarifies when a test market should
be done, what its aims should be, and to what uses it should be put. Relying on many of their judgments
on quoted first-person interview material with marketing executives, the authors finish with a postscript
on how technological innovation aid in test marketing.