The PDMA Handbook of Innovation and New Product Development, 4th Edition

CHAPTER TWELVE REALLY NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH STRATEGIES:PRESCRIPTIVE ADVICE TO MANAGERS FROM CONSUMER RESEARCH INSIGHTS

Sven Feurer¹, Steve Hoeffler, Min Zhao, and Michal Herzenstein

12.1 Introduction

Consider the following fictional scenario in which two consumers, Kaitlin and Jacob, are contemplating space travel as several commercial spaceships have announced they will soon start accepting reservations. At first the couple is excited about the possibility of flying to outer space like astronauts, orbiting around the earth weightlessly, and seeing earth from space with their own eyes. But when the flight date nears, they face many difficult questions as they think through adopting this cool new experience. Will it be safe, how would they feel during the flight, will they breathe normally and adjust well to the loss of gravity? How might their family and friends perceive them if they take this expensive and risky trip? Ultimately, the key question for them is, “Should we do it?”

Offerings such as space tourism are considered really new products (RNPs). RNPs revolutionize existing product categories, define new ones, or defy classification within existing categories (e.g., Gregan-Paxton and John 1997; Lehmann 1994). This characteristic distinguishes RNPs from INPs (incrementally new products) that represent incremental improvement to existing products. In this sense, consumers are, ...