Assessing new product potential in an international context: lessons learned in Thailand

Abstract

Purpose

Sets out to report on lessons learned by carrying out a concept test in Thailand. Where appropriate, aims to compare the adopted approach with the “regular” way by which the reported company assesses the potentials of new products. Based on these reflections, the authors seek to identify future research directives and develop managerial implications.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors present their experiences collected during a concept‐testing project in Thailand. In a separate section, they judge the degree to which the findings can be generalized.

Findings

Describes circumstances that strongly influence the validity of the research results in an international context, in particular sampling method, the concept presentation, the questioning procedure, country‐specific market conditions, and the assessment of learning behavior.

Research limitations/implications

The authors suggest future research avenues as they relate to further conceptual development of product diffusion models in an international context. Particularly the efforts to study the impact of culture on consumer innovativeness, adopting culture conceptualizations which realistically reflect consumer behavior, are relevant.

Practical implications

The authors make recommendations as to how to cope with managerial unfamiliarity that arises in an international context: defining locus of control, being aware of where biases enter and set, the findings into the research context, defining the value‐add of additional information on learning behavior.

Originality/value

This paper fulfils an identified need to provide more insights that show how practitioners manage the environmental unfamiliarity that arises in the context of international concept‐testing projects.

Citation

Vallaster, C. and Hasenöhrl, S. (2006), "Assessing new product potential in an international context: lessons learned in Thailand", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 67-76. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760610655005