The Age of the Consumer-Innovator Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

It has long been assumed that companies develop new products for consumers, and consumers are passive recipients, purchase and consumption of the producers create. However, this paradigm is fundamentally flawed, as consumers themselves are a major source of innovative products. The authors frame the new paradigm of innovation, in which consumers and users play a central and active role in the development of products on their own. In this article, they summarize the main findings from the study of consumer product innovation from the United States, Britain and Japan. The authors describe three steps in the new paradigm of innovation. Initially, markets for goods and services with new functionality for small and uncertain, with consumers pioneering really new products (eg, skateboard) for themselves. In the second stage, consumers are becoming more interested in new products. In the third stage, producer decide if the information on the design and function of a new product, and predictable market are in line with their risk profiles. The consequences are important for both consumers and producers, the authors note. Consumer innovators need to understand that they play an important role in developing new products and services. Companies, in turn, need to think about how they can adapt their product development system to take advantage of the prototypes developed by users. Focusing on product concepts that consumers are already prototypes and tested, companies can save money and improve your relationship success. "Hide
by Eric von Hippel, Susumu Ogawa, Jeroen de Jong PJ Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 9 pages. Publication Date: 01 Oct 2011. Prod. #: SMR397-PDF-ENG