Marketing strategy and its correlation with design strategy and design characteristics: an example of consumer electronic industry

Marketing should closely coordinate with product design. Not only does a close connection between marketing activity and design trigger product innovation in enterprises, it is also a key factor in the success of a product in the marketplace. The practical question is selecting a product design process that achieves marketing goals during innovation procedures. Although enterprises have taken concrete action to do so, empirical studies show that correlation between marketing strategy and design strategy or even between marketing strategy and design characteristics are rarely seen. In this study, the author first synthesised perspectives from the literature on marketing strategy, design strategy, and design characteristics. Managers in the marketing divisions and B2B design departments in the Taiwan consumer electronic industry were questionnaire survey. The data fit to the theoretical models was then verified by structural equation modelling (SEM). Data from 270 effective questionnaires confirmed strong correlations with marketing strategy, design strategy, and design characteristics. In enterprises, marketing strategy affects design characteristics directly and through design strategy. Among these three variables, design strategy is an independent intervening variable in design characteristics.