Home users blogs to test products : a field experimentation

This research examines how companies can best organize their virtual customer environments in order to elicit valuable consumer input in the New Product Development (NPD) process. Real developments in information technology nowadays offer firms new ways to elicit consumer input and feedback in the NPD process. Many firms are experimenting with these new opportunities, but little systematic, empirical research exists that allows managers to make informed decisions on when, where, and how to use what for whom. Our paper aims to make a contribution in understanding the effect of the design of interactions between consumers and between consumers and company on the value of the blog as a research tool . Our paper empirically investigates various design choices on the usefulness of blogs as platforms of interaction among consumers and between consumers and company in the NPD process. Through an experimentation, consumers are requested to participate in the NPD process as product testers. They use home blogs that allow the company to understand how consumers use the product, to identify potential adoption barriers, to define product strengths and weaknesses. Our protocols test the impact of two aspects of the virtual customer environment: the interaction between consumers and the interaction between consumers and company. We use both qualitative and quantitative metrics to analyze the results. This research is made in collaboration with Danone center of research.