Mariëlle E.H. Creusen

Choice of consumer research methods in the front end of new product development

This study investigates the choice of consumer research methods in the fuzzy front end (FFE) of the new product development (NPD) process. First, it delivers an up-to-date overview of currently available consumer research methods for use in the FFE of NPD. Second, using an online questionnaire, we obtain insights into the use of these consumer research methods by B-to-C companies based in the Netherlands (N = 88, including many major multinational companies). Third, these companies provided the major reasons for choosing these methods, and specified the types of consumer information that they aim to gather using these methods. Finally, we investigate the influence of company size, type of products developed (durable/non-durable) and product newness on the use of these methods. Based on these findings, we build a contingency framework that helps companies to improve their choice of consumer research methods in the FFE, where consumer insights are most important for new product success.

The importance of product aspects in choice: the influence of demographic characteristics

Purpose – A focus on product aspects that are most important to target consumers helps communicating product advantage to consumers, both in product design and in marketing. In previous studies, relations between the importance of functional and expressive product aspects and gender, age and social class have been indicated. However, knowledge of the relation of demographic variables to more specific product aspects is more informative for product development and marketing purposes. The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the relative importance of product aspects for different consumer groups as important information for product development and marketing. This study seeks to identify relations between gender, age, education and income, and the importance of aesthetic aspects, symbolic aspects, functionalities, ease of use and quality in buying a product.Design/methodology/approach – Consumers (n=247) covering a range in age, gender, education and income, indicated the importance of severa...

The influence of experiential augmentation on product evaluation

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of experiential augmentation on product evaluation by consumers. An important distinction is made between product-related experiential augmentation and experiential augmentation of the environment. Furthermore, the research examines how brand familiarity moderates the effect of experiential augmentation.,In two experiments (N = 210 and N = 70), both product-related and environmental experiential augmentation were varied. Participants tasted and evaluated a new coffee product from either a well-known or a fictitious brand.,The findings of the first experiment indicate that product-related experiential augmentation contributes positively to product evaluation for both an unfamiliar and a familiar brand. Experiential augmentation of the environment influences product evaluation negatively, but only in the absence of product-related experiential augmentation. The second experiment tests some possible explanations for this negative effect and shows that it occurs only in the case of a familiar brand.,The findings offer implications for marketing managers seeking to positively influence consumer product evaluations through experiential augmentation. First, marketing managers are advised to make a distinction between product-related experiential augmentation and experiential augmentation of the evaluation environment, and, second, they should take brand familiarity into account when employing experiential augmentation of the environment.,This research contributes to the literature by showing that product-related experiential augmentation and experiential augmentation of the environment differ in the impact they have on product evaluation and providing insight into the relationship between brand familiarity and experiential augmentation.