Abstract:

This paper concerns itself with two major areas of New Product Research. Firstly some of the causes of high new product failure rate are discussed. These are attributed partly to political pressures within marketing teams and partly to the inadequacy of market research techniques currently available to provide a quantitative estimate of likely offtake. Quantitative Techniques, generally placing of samples and subsequent call back, suffer from "nice lady" bias or a predisposition to say nice things about the free sample. Anything from 70-90% saying "Will buy" is not uncommon. The second part of the paper describes a technique which has been developed over several years. It starts off with an Action Standard, expressed units to be sold, and works through a system which ends with an indication of whether or not the Action Standard is likely to be achieved. The system is not perfect, it is not for the inexperienced or "by the book" researcher but has been shown to give reasonable answers as tested by later launch of products. It contains within it a means whereby "nice lady" bias is overcome.