Customer Knowledge Development: Antecedents and Impact on New Product Performance

By enhancing the fit between new product features and customer preferences, the customer knowledge development process fosters new product success. Despite this significant benefit, there is considerable variance in the extent to which firms engage in this process in their new product development projects. This is because not all firms can meet the resource, strategic flexibility, and motivational requirements of the process. In this research, the authors develop a nomological network wherein they identify (1) the organizational actions that enable effective implementation of the customer knowledge development process, (2) the characteristics of new product development projects that moderate the effects of these actions, and (3) the outcomes that are generated by the process. The results from a survey of 165 marketing managers who had recently participated in new product development projects provide substantial support for the nomological network. The authors explore the theoretical and managerial implications that arise from their results and provide future research directions.