The Role of Lead Users in New Product Development Essay

The Role of Lead Users in New Product Development - Essay Example This paper discusses that given the dynamic environment within which the marketing activity is carried out, there is no gain saying the fact that product innovation occupy a very prime position in the quest to maintain relevance in the market of a modern economy. As the report stresses lead users maybe defined as a sample population of a manufacturers intended market, who get to use a new product before it is actually launched in the market and name generally available to every would be user. A very important indicator of the health of a company is its customer satisfaction index. This all important indicator can be known only after a thorough market analysis, which can be achieved when the lead users approach is adopted. The ultimate aim in the mind of manufacturers is to make sales and by extensions make profit considering that more sales is a strong indicator of a company’s performance at any given time. Lead users aid market research because it results in systematic gathering, recording and analysis of every data concerning the response of the consumers to the new product. These are the potential customer base of the company and how they react is an indicator of market tendencies and effective business plans can then be created by the manufacturers. The most likely portion of the population to patronize the products are exposed via this approach to market analysis. At a very early stage product downsides are discovered and improved upon.