New product development is a process that companies use to bring new products or services to market. It can be a complex and costly undertaking, so it’s important to do your homework and gather as much information as possible before taking the plunge.
One of the most important things you can do during the product development process is conduct market research. This will help you gather data about your potential customers, their needs and wants, and how likely they are to purchase your product or service.
Why Use Market Research in New Product Development?
Market research is an important tool for any company that wants to bring a new product or service to market. There are many ways to conduct market research, but all of them have the same goal: to gather information to help you sell your product.
There are many benefits to conducting market research, but some of the most important include:
- Gain insights into your target market.
- Determine the right pricing for your product or service.
- Develop an effective marketing strategy.
- Understand what your competition is doing.
- Make informed decisions about your new product or service.
Overall, market research is a vital part of the new product development process. It can help you reduce risk, save time and money, and bring a successful product or service to consumers.
Market Research Methods for Product Development
Some of the most common methods for conducting market research include exploratory research, concept testing, and customer experience surveys. Each is best used at a certain point in the development process, so it’s important to choose the right tools at the right time.
Once you’ve gathered your data, it’s time to analyze it and use it to make decisions about your new product or service. Market research can help you determine things like pricing, target market, and marketing strategies.
Exploratory Research
Exploratory research is a type of market research that is conducted to gather preliminary data about a potential new product or service. It can be used to generate hypotheses, identify key issues, and gather general information about a topic.
Exploratory research is often conducted using qualitative methods such as interviews and focus groups. This allows researchers to gather in-depth information about people’s thoughts, perceptions, and experiences.
While exploratory research can be helpful in the early stages of product development, it should not be the only method used to make decisions about a new product or service. Instead, a variety of market research should be conducted to gather data that can be objectively analyzed and used to make informed decisions.
Concept Testing
Concept testing is a type of market research that is conducted to gather data about people’s reactions to a new product or service concept. It is typically used in the early stages of product development to help assess whether a concept has potential.
Concept testing usually involves presenting participants with a description of the proposed product or service and asking them for their thoughts and feedback. This can be done through surveys, interviews, or focus groups.
Data from concept testing can be used to assess people’s reactions to the concept, identify areas of concern, and make improvements to the concept before it is brought to market. Concept testing can also help you determine whether there is enough interest in a concept to warrant further development.
Usability Testing
Usability testing is a type of qualitative market research that is used to assess the usability of a new website, product, or service. This testing is valuable to find usability issues, gather feedback from target audiences, and measure satisfaction of your product.
Usability testing involves having participants use the product or service and then gathering data about their experience. This can be done with a moderator, or without.
Moderated usability testing has the benefit of being able to ask more information to get more detailed information from a user, improving the quality of data. Moderated testing has more costs involved, however, as it requires hiring a moderator, and renting a research facility if done in person.
Unmoderated usability testing creates a more relaxed and comfortable setting for participants and allows you to see organic information about your product or service without direction. Unmoderated usability testing will show the natural key satisfactions or dissatisfactions about your product, but leaves you unable to answer further questions or solve any confusion a user may have.
Customer Experience & Satisfaction Surveys
Customer experience (CX) surveys are a type of market research that is conducted to gather data about people’s overall satisfaction with a product or service. They can be used to assess customer loyalty, identify areas for improvement, and track changes in customer satisfaction over time.
CX surveys usually involve asking customers a series of questions about their recent experience with a product or service. This can be done through online surveys, phone surveys, or in-person interviews.
The data from CX surveys can be used to improve the customer experience, identify possible issues, and track changes in customer satisfaction over time. They can also help you assess customer loyalty and identify potential areas for improvement.
Market research is a vital tool for any business that wants to develop new products or services. Decision Point Research offers a variety of methods to complete your market research, all with a large database to ensure your information is accurate. Decision Point can also vary the research tools used based on your situation.
If you are looking to complete market research for a new product you’re developing, contact Decision Point Research to find out how we can help. Our large database and multitude of research methods mean we can help you from ideation to brand loyalty.
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