Abstract:

The degree of newness or innovation of a new product may vary greatly - ranging from a new brand in an established product field, which differs only slightly from existing brands in the product category, to a product involving an entirely new concept, such as the television receiver or the ball-point pen. In consequence the role of market research will tend to vary according to the degree of innovation, although in application rather than in principle. Today many commercial concerns use some form of market research at some stage in developing new products and broadly speaking we may divide this type of research into three categories.