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120-545: A focus group is also used by sociologists, psychologists, and researchers in communication studies, education, political science, and public health. Marketers can use the information collected from focus groups to obtain insights on a specific product, controversy, or topic. U.S. Federal agencies, such as the Census Bureau for the 2020 decennial census , also use the focus group method for message testing purpose among diverse populations. Used in qualitative research ,

240-486: A trade association or government agency (such as the Agricultural Marketing Service ) advertises on behalf of an entire industry or locality, often a specific type of food (e.g. Got Milk? ), food from a specific area, or a city or region as a tourism destination. Market orientations are philosophies concerning the factors that should go into market planning. The marketing mix, which outlines

360-444: A Changing World, was published as an e-book on December 3, 2018. On September 8, 2022, Drotar and Morrissey published their second book, "Learn & Adapt: ExPD An Adaptive Product Development Process for Rapid Innovation and Risk Reduction, which also highlights their process. The book has three sections: Overview of ExPD, How to Do It, and Adaptive Practices that Support ExPD. According to Kirkus, "the (approach the) authors advocate

480-569: A Go/No-Go to Development decision. These decisions represent the Gates in the Stage-Gate model. The following are types of new product development management structures: Customer-centric new product development focuses on finding new ways to solve customer problems and create more customer-satisfying experiences. Companies often rely on technology, but real success comes from understanding customer needs and values. The most successful companies are

600-619: A business or organization. Any company that sells products or services to other businesses or organizations (vs. consumers) typically uses B2B marketing strategies. The 7 P's of B2B marketing are: product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence. Some of the trends in B2B marketing include content such as podcasts, videos, and social media marketing campaigns. Examples of products sold through B2B marketing include: The four major categories of B2B product purchasers are: Business-to-consumer marketing, or B2C marketing, refers to

720-425: A company will market its product. It consists of five tools: personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, advertising and social media: Product development New product development ( NPD ) or product development in business and engineering covers the complete process of launching a new product to the market . Product development also includes the renewal of an existing product and introducing

840-498: A competitive advantage". For instance, the Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing from a customer-centric perspective, focusing on "the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably". In the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which included advertising , distribution and selling , and even today many parts of

960-488: A concrete process that can be followed to create a marketing plan . The "marketing concept" proposes that to complete its organizational objectives, an organization should anticipate the needs and wants of potential consumers and satisfy them more effectively than its competitors. This concept originated from Adam Smith 's book The Wealth of Nations but would not become widely used until nearly 200 years later. Marketing and Marketing Concepts are directly related. Given

1080-432: A few weeks to three years with an average of one year. Design and Commercialization phases usually start a very early collaboration. When the concept design is finished it will be sent to manufacturing plant for prototyping, developing a Concurrent Engineering approach by implementing practices such as QFD , DFM / DFA and more. The output of the design (engineering) is a set of product and process specifications – mostly in

1200-488: A glossary by the Product Development and Management Association , it is mentioned that the fuzzy front end generally consists of three tasks: strategic planning, idea generation, and pre-technical evaluation. These activities are often chaotic, unpredictable, and unstructured. In comparison, the subsequent new product development process is typically structured, predictable, and formal. The term fuzzy front end

1320-399: A good reason not to employ focus groups. He said that "They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products." The analysis of focus group data presents both challenges and opportunities when compared to other types of qualitative data. Some authors have suggested that data should be analyzed in the same manner as interview data, while others have suggested that

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1440-593: A green button. From there, Merton created an interviewing procedure to gain further insight into the subjective reactions of focus-group participants. He later established focus groups for the Bureau of Applied Social Research . The use of focus groups by sociologists gained popularity in the 1980s when Merton published a report on focused interviews. Paul Lazarsfeld had also received a government contract to get insight into individuals' responses to war radio propaganda. Psychologist and marketing expert Ernest Dichter coined

1560-408: A managerial approach that covered analysis , consumer behavior , market research , market segmentation , and planning . Phillip Kotler , popularised this approach and helped spread the 4 Ps model. McCarthy's 4 Ps have been widely adopted by both marketing academics and practitioners. One of the limitations of the 4Ps approach is its emphasis on an inside-out view. An inside-out approach

1680-412: A market. In addition, a great deal of advertising and promotion is designed to show how a given product's benefits meet the customer's needs, wants or expectations in a unique way. The two major segments of marketing are business-to-business (B2B) marketing and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing. B2B (business-to-business) marketing refers to any marketing strategy or content that is geared towards

1800-416: A marketing initiative. Participants are recruited on the basis of their similarity to members of the demographic groups targeted as potential consumers of the product. Focus groups allow companies wishing to develop, package, name, or test market a new product to get the perspective of potential consumers before the product is made available to the public. Focus groups can thus provide valuable information about

1920-657: A model-building perspective, the 4 Ps has attracted a number of criticisms. Well-designed models should exhibit clearly defined categories that are mutually exclusive, with no overlap. Yet, the 4 Ps model has extensive overlapping problems. Several authors stress the hybrid nature of the fourth P, mentioning the presence of two important dimensions, "communication" (general and informative communications such as public relations and corporate communications) and "promotion" (persuasive communications such as advertising and direct selling). Certain marketing activities, such as personal selling, may be classified as either promotion or as part of

2040-416: A more consumer-orientated version of the 4 Ps that attempts to better fit the movement from mass marketing to niche marketing . Consumer (or client) The consumer refers to the person or group that will acquire the product. This aspect of the model focuses on fulfilling the wants or needs of the consumer. Cost Cost refers to what is exchanged in return for the product. Cost mainly consists of

2160-479: A multiplicity of new markets. Market segmentation can be defined in terms of the STP acronym, meaning Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning . Segmentation involves the initial splitting up of consumers into persons of like needs/wants/tastes. Commonly used criteria include: Once a segment has been identified to target, a firm must ascertain whether the segment is beneficial for them to service. The DAMP acronym

2280-415: A product into a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design . New product development is the realization of a market opportunity by making a product available for purchase. The products developed by an commercial organisation provide the means to generate income . Many technology-intensive organisations exploit technological innovation in a rapidly changing consumer market. A product can be

2400-503: A product is to be marketed on a nationwide basis, it would be helpful to conduct focus groups in various localities because the desirability of a new product may vary from place to place. Conducting focus groups in different areas of the country would require considerable expenditure on travel and lodging for moderators. In usability engineering , a focus group can be used to collect the feedback of software or website users. Focus groups can be applied to computer products to better understand

2520-456: A qualitative method or in combination with quantitative methods. Qualitative data collected in focus groups can help researchers decide what kinds of items to include in surveys. The moderator can inquire into and examine unforeseen issues with that arise in the context of the discussion. The format has a kind of face-validity and is naturalistic in that the discussion can include storytelling, joking, disagreements, and boasting. Running focus groups

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2640-401: A regular development of new products. There are many uncertainties and challenges which companies must face throughout the process. The product development process typically consists of several activities that firms employ in the complex process of delivering new products to the market. A process management approach is used to provide a structure. Product development often overlaps much with

2760-554: A relatively expedient, convenient, and efficacious research method. While the focus group is taking place, the facilitator either takes notes and/or records the discussion for later note-taking in order to learn from the group. Researchers/evaluators should select members of the focus group carefully in order to obtain useful information. Focus groups may also include an observer who pays attention to dynamics not expressed in words e.g., body language, people who appear to have something to add but do not speak up. Focus groups first started in

2880-501: A researcher to obtain results relatively quickly and increase the sample size by including several people at once. Another advantage is that a focus group can allow participants to learn from one another as they exchange views and to understand research as an enriching experience. The nature of the focus group contrasts with the more typically extractive nature of traditional social science research which seeks to "mine" participants for data (with few benefits for participants); this difference

3000-432: A section to the marketing mix. The 4Ps refers to four broad categories of marketing decisions, namely: product , price , promotion , and place . The origins of the 4 Ps can be traced to the late 1940s. The first known mention has been attributed to a Professor of Marketing at Harvard University, James Culliton. The 4 Ps, in its modern form, was first proposed in 1960 by E. Jerome McCarthy; who presented them within

3120-445: A short film, lecture on a text, or unfolding of a concrete problem for which a solution needs to be found. The questions should be open ended. However, there should be a smooth transition from one question to the next. The session should ideally start with introductory questions to address the general topic, helping the participants to understand the broader context. The general questions should be followed by questions designed to elicit

3240-455: A stable market environment, ExPD is more suitable for product development in markets that are unstable and less predictable. Unstable and unpredictable markets cause uncertainty and risk in product development. Many factors contribute to the outcome of a project, and ExPD works on the assumption that the ones that the product team doesn't know enough about or are unaware of are the factors that create uncertainty and risk. The primary goal of ExPD

3360-409: A structured NPPD (New Product & Process Development) strategy. The second element is the opportunity analysis. It is done to translate the identified opportunities into implications for the business and technology specific context of the company. Here extensive efforts may be made to align ideas to target customer groups and do market studies and/or technical trials and research. The third element

3480-402: A synergy that can provide information that can't be gained in other ways. Vocabulary can be observed. New, insightful perspectives and opinions are obtained. Sensitive topics can be discussed, leading to personal disclosures. The moderator maintains the discussion and makes sure no one individual can dominate the group, thus creating a more "egalitarian" context. Non-verbal behavior plays a role in

3600-536: A tangible asset or intangible. A service or user experience is intangible. In law, sometimes services and other processes are distinguished from "products". NPD requires an understanding of customer needs and wants, the competitive environment, and the nature of the market. Cost, time, and quality are the main variables that drive customer needs. Aiming at these three variables, innovative companies develop continuous practices and strategies to better satisfy customer requirements and to increase their own market share by

3720-494: Is a danger that a consensus can be assumed when not every person has spoken: the researcher will need to consider carefully whether the people who have not expressed a view agree with the majority or whether they may simply be unwilling to voice their disagreement. Many computer programs are available to help in analyzing qualitative data. The capacity of computers to effectively sort, store, and retrieve information makes their use in qualitative data analysis appealing. However, it

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3840-668: Is a five-step procedure. These steps are listed in chronological order: Lean Start-up approach. Lean startup is a methodology for developing businesses and products that aims to shorten product development cycles and rapidly discover if a proposed business model is viable; this is achieved by adopting a combination of business-hypothesis-driven experimentation, iterative product releases, and validated learning. Lean startup emphasizes customer feedback over intuition and flexibility over planning. This methodology enables recovery from failures more often than traditional ways of product development. Stage-gate model. A pioneer of NPD research in

3960-550: Is a senior person appointed to be responsible for implementing and managing the innovation management system. They are also responsible for ensuring that all aspects of new product development are taken into account and that the company is able to track and assess the progress of new products. A cross-functional innovation management committee is a team of individuals from different company departments, including marketing , engineering, design, manufacturing, and research and development , who are responsible for overseeing and managing

4080-490: Is a subset of marketing research. (Avoiding the word consumer, which shows up in both, market research is about distribution, while marketing research encompasses distribution, advertising effectiveness, and salesforce effectiveness). The stages of research include: Well-known academic journals in the field of marketing with the best rating in VHB-Jourqual and Academic Journal Guide, an impact factor of more than 5 in

4200-462: Is because companies need to find ways to meet the changing needs and tastes of their customers. Innovation can help a company become more competitive and better positioned for the future. In difficult economic times, it is even more important for companies to focus on innovation and new product development. In addition, companies can use virtual product development to help reduce costs. Virtual product development uses collaboration technology to remove

4320-422: Is conducted for two main purposes: better allocation of a firm's finite resources and to better serve the more diversified tastes of contemporary consumers. A firm only possesses a certain amount of resources. Thus, it must make choices (and appreciate the related costs) in servicing specific groups of consumers. Moreover, with more diversity in the tastes of modern consumers, firms are noting the benefit of servicing

4440-556: Is currently defined by the American Marketing Association (AMA) as "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large". However, the definition of marketing has evolved over the years. The AMA reviews this definition and its definition for "marketing research" every three years. The interests of "society at large" were added into

4560-442: Is developed iteratively to solve a given problem. The design stage is very important because at this stage most of the product life cycle costs are engaged. Previous research shows that 70–80% of the final product quality and 70% of the product entire life-cycle cost are determined in the product design phase, therefore the design-manufacturing interface represent the greatest opportunity for cost reduction. Design projects last from

4680-420: Is diametrically opposed to the popular concept of B2C or Business- to- Consumer where the companies make goods and services available to the end consumers. In this type of business model, businesses profit from consumers' willingness to name their own price or contribute data or marketing to the company, while consumers benefit from flexibility, direct payment, or free or reduced-price products and services. One of

4800-423: Is especially important for indigenous researchers who employ focus groups to conduct research on their own ethnic group. In marketing , focus groups are seen as an important tool for acquiring feedback regarding new products and other marketing-related topics. Focus groups are usually employed in the early stages of product or concept development, when organizations are trying to determine the overall direction of

4920-434: Is even more important for companies to focus on innovation and new product development. Oftentimes, such situations result in a short-sighted focus on cost-cutting and a reduction in spending on new products. However, companies that are able to innovate and create new products will be better positioned for the future. Although counter-intuitive, tough times may even call for a greater emphasis on new product development. This

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5040-428: Is good rapport. The purpose and format of the discussion should be made clear at the beginning of the session. All participants should be encouraged to participate, share their views, and be told that divergent views are welcome. Flick writes that a formal explanation of the procedure should be given to the participants. Expectation-setting is an essential component in this step. Expectations can include being involved in

5160-431: Is important to a company's success. It is also important for companies to have a process in place for monitoring the competition and their products so that they can stay ahead of the curve. In order to successfully manage the new product development process, companies must have an innovation management system in place. This system helps to ensure that all aspects of new product development are taken into account and that

5280-408: Is important to be aware that computers can only aid in some parts of the analysis of qualitative data; computer software does not code data nor can replace conceptual analysis. It cannot analyze qualitative data for the researcher. Various creative activity-oriented questions can serve as supplements to verbal questions including but not limited to the following: Marketers Marketing

5400-408: Is much slower (often 10-plus years) than that deployed for many types of consumer goods. The development process is articulated and broken down in many different ways, many of which often include the following phases/stages: PHASE 1. Fuzzy front-end (FFE) is the set of activities employed before the more formal and well defined requirements specification is completed. Requirements speak to what

5520-412: Is outwardly focused and premised on being adaptable enough to develop new competencies and create new models as complex situations evolve." Kirkus summarizes the text as "complex and visually stimulating; a serious blueprint for serious strategists." IDEO approach. The concept adopted by IDEO, a design and consulting firm, is one of the most researched processes in regard to new product development and

5640-434: Is straightforward and relatively inexpensive. Focus groups ordinarily consume less time than structured interviews, thus increasing sample sizes, lessening resource investment, and providing fast results. Focus groups tend to be more efficient when the data being gathered are related to the researcher's interests. They are helpful and important for needs assessments and project evaluations . A focus group discussion can create

5760-438: Is the act of satisfying and retaining customers . It is one of the primary components of business management and commerce . Marketing is typically conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or manufacturer. Products can be marketed to other businesses ( B2B ) or directly to consumers ( B2C ). Sometimes tasks are contracted to dedicated marketing firms, like a media , market research , or advertising agency . Sometimes,

5880-717: Is the development of both the high-level and detailed-level design of the product: which turns the what of the requirements into a specific how this particular product will meet those requirements. This typically has the most overlap with the engineering design process, but can also include industrial design and even purely aesthetic aspects of design. On the marketing and planning side, this phase ends at pre-commercialization analysis stage. PHASE 3: Product implementation often refers to later stages of detailed engineering design (e.g. refining mechanical or electrical hardware, or software, or goods or other product forms), as well as test process that may be used to validate that

6000-502: Is the idea and technology development. During this part of the front-end, the business case is developed based on estimates of the total available market, customer needs, investment requirements, competition analysis and project uncertainty. Some organizations consider this to be the first stage of the NPPD process (i.e., Stage 0). A universally acceptable definition for Fuzzy Front End or a dominant framework has not been developed so far. In

6120-492: Is the idea genesis, which is described as evolutionary and iterative process progressing from birth to maturation of the opportunity into a tangible idea. The process of the idea genesis can be made internally or come from outside inputs, e.g. a supplier offering a new material/technology or from a customer with an unusual request. The fourth element is the idea selection. Its purpose is to choose whether to pursue an idea by analyzing its potential business value. The fifth element

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6240-401: Is the traditional planning approach where the organization identifies its desired goals and objectives, which are often based around what has always been done. Marketing's task then becomes one of "selling" the organization's products and messages to the "outside" or external stakeholders. In contrast, an outside-in approach first seeks to understand the needs and wants of the consumer. From

6360-705: Is to reduce uncertainty and risk by reducing the unknown. When organizations adapt quickly to the changing environment (market, technology, regulations, globalization, etc.), they reduce uncertainty and risk, which leads to product success. ExPD is described as a two-pronged, integrated systems approach. Drotar and Morrissey state that product development is complex and needs to be managed as a system, integrating essential elements: strategy, portfolio management, organization/teams/culture, metrics, market/customer understanding, and process. Drotar and Morrissey have published two books on ExPD. The first, Exploratory Product Development: Executive Version: Adaptable Product Development in

6480-410: Is used as criteria to gauge the viability of a target market. The elements of DAMP are: The next step in the targeting process is the level of differentiation involved in a segment serving. Three modes of differentiation exist, which are commonly applied by firms. These are: Positioning concerns how to position a product in the minds of consumers and inform what attributes differentiate it from

6600-581: Is with the setting of the focus group. If a focus group is held in a laboratory setting with a moderator who is a professor and the recording instrument is obtrusive, the participants may either hold back on their responses and/or try to answer the moderator's questions with answers the participants feel that the moderator wants to hear. Another problem with the focus group setting is the lack of anonymity. With multiple participants, confidentiality cannot be assured. Douglas Rushkoff argued that focus groups are often useless and frequently create more problems than

6720-654: The Social Sciences Citation Index and an h-index of more than 130 in the SCImago Journal Rank are These are also designated as Premier AMA Journals by the American Marketing Association. Market segmentation consists of taking the total heterogeneous market for a product and dividing it into several sub-markets or segments, each of which tends to be homogeneous in all significant aspects. The process

6840-663: The engineering design process, particularly if the new product being developed involves application of math and/or science. Every new product will pass through a series of stages/phases, including ideation among other aspects of design , as well as manufacturing and market introduction. In highly complex engineered products (e.g. aircraft, automotive, machinery), the NPD process can be likewise complex regarding management of personnel, milestones, and deliverables. Such projects typically use an integrated product team approach. The process for managing large-scale complex engineering products

6960-515: The sales process engineering perspective, defines marketing as "a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction". Some definitions of marketing highlight marketing's ability to produce value to shareholders of the firm as well. In this context, marketing can be defined as "the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating

7080-486: The 1940s as a research method in the context of market research concerning radio soap operas. During the Second World War , Robert K. Merton set out to analyze the effectiveness of propaganda with the use of focus groups. Merton devised a procedure in which twelve participants at a radio studio would respond to negatively associated content by hitting a red button or positively associated information by hitting

7200-476: The acronym ExPD, is an emerging approach to new product development. Consultants Mary Drotar and Kathy Morrissey first introduced ExPD at the 2015 Product Development and Management Association annual meeting and later outlined their approach in the Product Development and Management Association's magazine Visions . In 2015, Drotar and Morrissey's firm Strategy2Market received the trademark on

7320-423: The basis of "distinct needs, characteristics, or behaviors who might require separate products or marketing mixes." Needs-based segmentation (also known as benefit segmentation ) "places the customers' desires at the forefront of how a company designs and markets products or services." Although needs-based segmentation is difficult to do in practice, it has been proved to be one of the most effective ways to segment

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7440-399: The case of services marketing . Other extensions have been found necessary in retail marketing, industrial marketing and internet marketing. In response to environmental and technological changes in marketing, as well as criticisms towards the 4Ps approach, the 4Cs has emerged as a modern marketing mix model. Robert F. Lauterborn proposed a 4 Cs classification in 1990. His classification is

7560-404: The centrality of customer needs, and wants in marketing, a rich understanding of these concepts is essential: Marketing research , conducted for the purpose of new product development or product improvement, is often concerned with identifying the consumer's unmet needs . Customer needs are central to market segmentation which is concerned with dividing markets into distinct groups of buyers on

7680-591: The companies that adopt this system are reported to receive benefits such as improved teamwork, improved success rates, earlier detection of failure, a better launch, and even shorter cycle times – reduced by about 30%. These findings highlight the importance of the stage-gate model in the area of new product development. The Stage-Gate model of NPD predevelopment activities are summarised in Phase zero and one, in respect to earlier definition of predevelopment activities: These activities yield essential information to make

7800-490: The company is able to track and assess the progress of new products. The innovation management system should also help to foster a culture of innovation within the company, which can help to increase the chances of success for new products. Marketing writers Hyman and Wilkins argue that a company's rate of product innovation should fit between the extremes of being so rapid that "its core range decays" and so slow that its product range "become[s] obselete. An innovation manager

7920-428: The competitor's products. A firm often performs this by producing a perceptual map, which denotes similar products produced in the same industry according to how consumers perceive their price and quality. From a product's placing on the map, a firm would tailor its marketing communications to meld with the product's perception among consumers and its position among competitors' offering. The promotional mix outlines how

8040-601: The concept. Although the fuzzy front end may not be an expensive part of product development, it can consume 50% of development time (see Chapter 3 of the Smith and Reinertsen reference below), and it is where major commitments are typically made involving time, money, and the product's nature, thus setting the course for the entire project and final end product. Consequently, this phase should be considered as an essential part of development rather than something that happens "before development", and its cycle time should be included in

8160-488: The consumer relationship, as opposed to a pure exchange process. For instance, prolific marketing author and educator, Philip Kotler has evolved his definition of marketing. In 1980, he defined marketing as "satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process", and in 2018 defined it as "the process by which companies engage customers, build strong customer relationships, and create customer value in order to capture value from customers in return". A related definition, from

8280-408: The consumer to attain the product, thus making them more likely to do so. Communication Like "Promotion" in the 4Ps model, communication refers to how consumers find out about a product. Unlike promotion, communication not only refers to the one-way communication of advertising, but also the two-way communication available through social media. The term "marketing environment" relates to all of

8400-454: The consumers goods sector is Robert G. Cooper. Over the last two decades he conducted significant work in the area of NPD. The Stage-Gate model developed in the 1980s was proposed as a new tool for managing new products development processes. This was mainly applied to the consumers goods industry. The 2010 APQC benchmarking study reveals that 88% of U.S. businesses employ a stage-gate system to manage new products, from idea to launch. In return,

8520-481: The definition in 2008. The development of the definition may be seen by comparing the 2008 definition with the AMA's 1935 version: "Marketing is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods, and services from producers to consumers". The newer definition highlights the increased prominence of other stakeholders in the new conception of marketing. Recent definitions of marketing place more emphasis on

8640-426: The discussion may be critical, as the group largely relies on the assisted discussion in order to produce results. Thus, there is the need for skilled group leaders. There is a risk that a leader could dominate or 'hijack' the discussion. Results obtained may be biased, when one or two participants dominate the discussion. The representativeness of the sample is likely to be a concern. Generalizing knowledge learned about

8760-522: The discussion moves from overall impressions of a brand or product category and becomes more specific as the discussion progresses. Stakeholders such as members of a design team are not involved in the focus group, to avoid potential bias. However, they may attend the focus group, either through video cameras or by watching through a one-way mirror. Focus groups can provide accurate information and are less expensive than other forms of marketing research . However, there can be significant costs. For example, if

8880-415: The discussion, arguing about certain topics, and collective problem-solving. Introducing the members to one another and having a "warm up" can help prepare the participants for the discussion. The moderator must establish common ground for the participants in order to facilitate community feeling. The actual discussion takes place following "discussion stimuli," which may be in the form of a provocative thesis,

9000-441: The discussion. He or she introduces new topics, directs the conversation and encourages participation while trying to minimize bias. The moderator should create an environment that encourages members to share their views, while keeping track of the discussion and preventing it from drifting from the topic at hand. Because the participants often do not know each other, the moderator must ensure that everyone feels comfortable and there

9120-457: The factors (whether internal, external, direct or indirect) that affect a firm's marketing decision-making/planning. A firm's marketing environment consists of three main areas, which are: Marketing research is a systematic process of analyzing data that involves conducting research to support marketing activities and the statistical interpretation of data into information. This information is then used by managers to plan marketing activities, gauge

9240-435: The form of drawings, and the output of manufacturing is the product ready for sale. Basically, the design team will develop drawings with technical specifications representing the future product, and will send it to the manufacturing plant to be executed. Solving product/process fit problems is of high priority in information communication design because 90% of the development effort must be scrapped if any changes are made after

9360-528: The foundation of all the other models that have been developed afterwards. Significant work has been conducted in order to propose better models, but in fact these models can be easily linked to BAH model. The seven steps of the BAH model are: new product strategy , idea generation, screening and evaluation, business analysis, development, testing, and commercialization. Exploratory product development model (ExPD). Exploratory product development, which often goes by

9480-459: The further development of an idea. It is the phase between first consideration of an opportunity and when it is judged ready to enter the structured development process (Kim and Wilemon, 2007; Koen et al., 2001). It includes all activities from the search for new opportunities through the formation of a germ of an idea to the development of a precise concept. The Fuzzy Front End phase ends when an organization approves and begins formal development of

9600-404: The group discussion. In some non-Western cultures, a younger person does not openly disagree with an older individual; focus group composition, therefore, must be carefully considered when designing the research plan . Variants of focus groups include: When conducting a focus-group discussion where the topic being discussed is of a sensitive nature, it is recommended that the participants be of

9720-434: The homogeneity of the group members, settings, and the nature of open-ended questions, which are hoped to encourage the members to talk more freely. The discussion must be held in a relaxed setting, with the entire session recorded (audio or visual). There should also be a note-taker who writes down all important aspects of the discussion, but who is not a part of the discussion. This note-taker must have in-depth knowledge about

9840-471: The impact of services on the library use. In the social sciences and in urban planning , focus groups allow interviewers to study people in a more natural conversational pattern than typically occurs in a one-to-one interview. In combination with participant observation , focus groups can be used for learning about group attitudes and patterns of interaction. An advantage of focus groups is their fairly low cost compared to surveys because focus groups allow

9960-480: The individual may either modify their position or defend it. Bringing together all the comments that an individual makes in order can enable the researcher to determine whether their view changes in the course of discussion and, if so, further examination of the transcript may reveal which contributions by other focus group members brought about the change. At the collective level, focus group data can sometimes reveal shared understandings or common views. However, there

10080-401: The interactions, and thus bias responses. Ethical issues may arise regarding confidentiality. Psychometric validity may be low. A fundamental difficulty with focus groups (and other forms of qualitative research ) is the issue of observer dependency : the results obtained are influenced by the researcher or his or her reading of the group's discussion, thus raising questions of the validity of

10200-617: The interviews involve a group of people who are asked about their perceptions, attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and views regarding many different topics (e.g., abortion, political candidates or issues, a shared event, needs assessment). Group members are often free to talk and interact with each other. Instead of a researcher/evaluator asking group members questions individually, focus groups use group interaction to explore and clarify participants' beliefs, opinions, and views. The interactivity of focus groups allows researchers to obtain qualitative data from multiple participants, often making focus groups

10320-415: The major benefit of this type of business model is that it offers a company a competitive advantage in the market. Customer to customer marketing or C2C marketing represents a market environment where one customer purchases goods from another customer using a third-party business or platform to facilitate the transaction. C2C companies are a new type of model that has emerged with e-commerce technology and

10440-506: The marketing environment. To overcome the deficiencies of the 4P model, some authors have suggested extensions or modifications to the original model. Extensions of the four P's are often included in cases such as services marketing where unique characteristics (i.e. intangibility, perishability, heterogeneity and the inseparability of production and consumption) warrant additional consideration factors. Other extensions include "people", "process", and "physical evidence" and are often applied in

10560-418: The marketing process (e.g. product design , art director , brand management , advertising, inbound marketing, copywriting etc.) involve the use of the creative arts. However, because marketing makes extensive use of social sciences , psychology , sociology , mathematics , economics , anthropology and neuroscience , the profession is now widely recognized as a science. Marketing science has developed

10680-463: The middle of the five front-end stages and the possible outside barriers that can influence the process outcome. The engine represents the management driving the activities described. The front end of the innovation is the greatest area of weakness in the NPD process. This is mainly because the FFE is often chaotic, unpredictable and unstructured. Engineering design is the process whereby a technical solution

10800-558: The moderator's decision-making and research results, increasing the chances of obtaining rich, in-depth information. Previously neglected or unnoticed phenomena can be brought to the researcher's attention. Although the focus-group method of data collection has several advantages, the method also has limitations. The focus group method provides little experimental control. Data collected are usually difficult to analyze. The discussion must be audio or videotaped, field notes have to be recorded, and comments must be transcribed verbatim, increasing

10920-474: The monetary value of the product. Cost also refers to anything else the consumer must sacrifice to attain the product, such as time or money spent on transportation to acquire the product. Convenience Like "Place" in the 4Ps model, convenience refers to where the product will be sold. This, however, not only refers to physical stores but also whether the product is available in person or online. The convenience aspect emphasizes making it as easy as possible for

11040-458: The motivations of users and their perceptions of the product. The focus group method is developed based on white, middle-class, and adult American participants. When applied to cross-cultural settings, cultural and linguistic adaptations are important for the research to succeed; cultural sensitivity is critically important. For example, in some Asian languages, open-ended probes and nonverbal communication can encourage greater participation in

11160-458: The nature of a firm's marketing environment and to attain information from suppliers. A distinction should be made between marketing research and market research. Market research involves gathering information about a particular target market. As an example, a firm may conduct research in a target market, after selecting a suitable market segment. In contrast, marketing research relates to all research conducted within marketing. Market research

11280-468: The need for co-located teams, which can result in significant cost savings such as a reduction in G&;A (general & administrative) overhead costs of consulting firms. Another way to reduce the cost of new product development is through the use of 24-hour development cycles. This approach allows companies to develop products more quickly and at a lower cost. By using a 24-hour cycle, companies can shorten

11400-438: The new product development process. This committee helps to ensure that all aspects of new product development are taken into account and that the company is able to track and assess the progress of new products. Companies may get a better overall picture of new product development by putting together a cross-functional team, which can help generate fresh ideas and give assistance in evaluating them. In difficult economic times, it

11520-446: The ones that differentiated from others, solved major customer problems, offer a compelling customer value proposition, and engage customers directly, and systematically. Systematic new product development focuses on creating a process that allows for the collection, review, and evaluation of new product ideas. Having a way in which employees, suppliers, distributors, and dealers become involved in finding and developing new products

11640-417: The place (i.e., distribution) element. Some pricing tactics, such as promotional pricing, can be classified as price variables or promotional variables and, therefore, also exhibit some overlap. Other important criticisms include that the marketing mix lacks a strategic framework and is, therefore, unfit to be a planning instrument, particularly when uncontrollable, external elements are an important aspect of

11760-412: The potential for consumer acceptance of the product. The focus group interview is conducted informally and as naturally as possible. Participants are free to give views about any aspect of the product. These focus groups should not be confused with in-depth interviews. The moderator uses a discussion guide that has been prepared in advance of the focus group to maintain the discussion on course. Generally,

11880-420: The precise nature of specific concepts that inform marketing practice, the most commonly cited orientations are as follows: A marketing mix is a foundational tool used to guide decision making in marketing. The marketing mix represents the basic tools that marketers can use to bring their products or services to the market. They are the foundation of managerial marketing and the marketing plan typically devotes

12000-477: The problems the groups are intended to solve. Because focus groups often aim to please their underwriters rather than provide independent opinions or evaluations, the data are sometimes cherry picked to support a foregone conclusion. Rushkoff cited the disastrous introduction of New Coke in the 1980s as an example of focus group design, implementation, and analysis gone bad. Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of industrial design, noted that Apple had found

12120-469: The product should do or have, at varying degrees of specificity, in order to meet the perceived market or business need The fuzzy front end (FFE) is the messy "getting started" period of new product engineering development processes. It is also referred to as the "Front End of Innovation", or "Idea Management". It is in the front end where the organization formulates a concept of the product to be developed and decides whether or not to invest resources in

12240-537: The prototype actually meets all design specifications that were established. PHASE 4: Fuzzy back-end or commercialization phase represent the action steps where the production and market launch occur. The front-end marketing phases have been very well researched, with valuable models proposed. Peter Koen et al. provides a five-step front-end activity called front-end innovation: opportunity identification, opportunity analysis, idea genesis, idea selection, and idea and technology development. He also includes an engine in

12360-484: The release to manufacturing. Conceptual models have been designed in order to facilitate a smooth product development process. Booz, Allen and Hamilton Model : One of the first developed models that companies still use in the NPD process is the Booz, Allen and Hamilton (BAH) Model, published in 1982. This is the best known model because it underlies the NPD systems that have been put forward later. This model represents

12480-434: The research (see experimenter's bias ). Focus groups are "One-shot case studies" especially if they are measuring a property-disposition relationship within the social sciences, unless they are repeated. Focus groups can create severe issues of external validity, especially the reactive effects of the testing arrangement. Other common (and related) criticism involve groupthink and social desirability bias . Another problem

12600-544: The research less timely. The benefits of online both synchronous and asynchronous focus groups include the absence of a need for transportation and ease of access. A major advantage of online focus groups is that they allow geographically diverse individuals to participate. A disadvantage is a reduced capacity to assess non-verbal behavior; assessing non-verbal behavior can be helpful to qualitative researchers. Focus groups have several advantages for collecting qualitative research data. Focus group research can be used purely as

12720-403: The risk of error. The method requires carefully trained interviewers. Groups may vary considerably and investigators may have difficulty assembling the appropriate group. Discussion must be conducted in an environment that is conducive to conversation. There is also the potential for discussion facilitators to ask leading questions that produce biased results. The ability of the leader to facilitate

12840-508: The same sex, age-range, and socio-economic background. It is also desirable that the participants do not know each other prior to the discussion. Informed consent must be granted before beginning the discussion. In addition, before the discussion is to begin potential group members should be briefed about the topic of discussion and informed about their rights, including the confidentiality (e.g., that their identities will not be revealed in any report or publication). Important considerations are

12960-458: The sample may not generalize to population because participants are self-selected. The moderator may influence the group interactions, thus distorting results or findings. The participants' involvement in, and contribution to, the discussion plays a major role. Problems may arise if topics are controversial in nature, leading to disagreements and arguments. Dealing with sensitive topics is a challenge. A contrived or artificial environment may influence

13080-530: The sharing economy. The different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, number of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods. A marketing orientation has been defined as a "philosophy of business management." or "a corporate state of mind" or as an "organizational culture." Although scholars continue to debate

13200-502: The specific information sought. The focus group should end with efforts to summarize the opinions of the participants. Focus groups typically are conducted face-to-face, but the development of new technologies has enabled investigators to conduct qualitative research online. Two types of online methods, synchronous and asynchronous, have emerged. Synchronous methods allow researchers to conduct live discussions. Synchronous online discussions attempt to mimic in-person focus groups. Barriers to

13320-466: The specifics of the product and how it will be sold, including the channels that will be used to advertise the product, is affected by the environment surrounding the product, the results of marketing research and market research , and the characteristics of the product's target market. Once these factors are determined, marketers must then decide what methods of promoting the product, including use of coupons and other price inducements. Marketing

13440-419: The success of synchronous online focus groups include the problem of arriving at a convenient time for all participants and lack of accessibility for some participants. Asynchronous methods collect participant information through online communication such as forums and email lists . Asynchronous online focus groups have a number barriers to success. These barriers include sporadic participation over time, making

13560-460: The tactics and strategies in which a company promotes its products and services to individual people. Traditionally, this could refer to individuals shopping for personal products in a broad sense. More recently the term B2C refers to the online selling of consumer products.< Consumer-to-business marketing or C2B marketing is a business model where the end consumers create products and services which are consumed by businesses and organizations. It

13680-408: The term "Exploratory PD." Rather than going through a set of discrete phases, like the phase-gate process , this exploratory product development process allows organizations to adapt to a landscape of shifting market circumstances and uncertainty by using a more flexible and adaptable product development process for both hardware and software. Where the traditional phase-gate approach works best in

13800-516: The term "focus group" itself before his death in 1991. In disciplines of library and information science , when librarians intend to work on a library's collection, they consult patrons. The focus groups librarians organize are helpful in identifying patrons' needs. In addition, teachers, other professionals, and researchers can also be recruited to participate in focus groups to ascertain those individuals' library-related needs. Focus groups can also help librarians better understand patron behavior and

13920-456: The time it takes to get a product to market, which can give them a competitive advantage and capability that can be extremely useful in cases where there is a sudden change in market conditions or customer needs. In difficult economic times, it is even more important for companies to focus on innovation and new product development. By using a variety of methods, such as virtual product development and 24-hour development cycles, companies can reduce

14040-404: The topic at hand, should be trained in observing verbal and non-verbal feedback (for example, noting facial expressions), and whose duty is to translate the notes taken during session into data for analysis. Areas of interest to be discussed during the session need to be specified by the moderators and organizers prior to the session. The moderator makes sure that all these areas are covered during

14160-434: The total development cycle time. Koen et al. (2001) distinguish five different front-end elements (not necessarily in a particular order): The first element is the opportunity identification. In this element, large or incremental business and technological chances are identified in a more or less structured way. Using the guidelines established here, resources will eventually be allocated to new projects, which then leads to

14280-447: The unique features of focus group data – particularly the opportunity that it provides to observe interactions between group members - means that distinctive forms of analysis should be used. Data analysis can take place at the level of the individual or the group. Focus group data provides the opportunity to analyze the strength with which an individual holds an opinion. If they are presented with opposing opinions or directly challenged,

14400-400: Was first popularized by Smith and Reinertsen (1991). R.G. Cooper (1988) it describes the early stages of NPPD as a four-step process in which ideas are generated (I), subjected to a preliminary technical and market assessment (II) and merged to coherent product concepts (III) which are finally judged for their fit with existing product strategies and portfolios (IV). PHASE 2: Product design

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