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Florian Denker explores the role of an individual's domain knowledge for the proficient evaluation of early-stage new product ideas in the front-end of innovation. The results of his study show that in order to ensure an effective evaluation, evaluators of early-stage new product ideas should have comprehensive knowledge of consumers' needs and wants, as well as distinct knowledge about the opportunities and limits of available technologies in the respective domain. In this context, the results show that not only firm-internal experts can have this knowledge. Users and, in particular, so-called "lead users" (i.e. users who are ahead of the majority on major market trends and innovations), could also be suitable for effectively evaluating early-stage new product ideas.
List of contents
Front-end of innovation.- Foundations of research in the field of new idea evaluation.- Theoretical foundation of the role of individuals' domain knowledge in evaluating early-stage new product ideas.- Empirical study - new product idea evaluations by experts, users, and laymen.- Implications for research and practice.
Summary
Florian Denker explores the role of an individual’s domain knowledge for the proficient evaluation of early-stage new product ideas in the front-end of innovation. The results of his study show that in order to ensure an effective evaluation, evaluators of early-stage new product ideas should have comprehensive knowledge of consumers’ needs and wants, as well as distinct knowledge about the opportunities and limits of available technologies in the respective domain. In this context, the results show that not only firm-internal experts can have this knowledge. Users and, in particular, so-called "lead users" (i.e. users who are ahead of the majority on major market trends and innovations), could also be suitable for effectively evaluating early-stage new product ideas.
