Companies have recently begun to use the Internet to integrate their customers more actively into various phases of the new product development process. One such strategy involves empowering customers to cooperate in selecting the product concepts to be marketed by the firm. In such scenarios,...

While interest in customization is growing among consumers and academics, researchers have focused on consumers designing products for themselves. Many customization firms, however, are successfully positioning themselves as key sources for unique gifts. In this research, the authors examine...

Consumers desire products that provide meaningful experiences. Therefore, a marketer's success often depends on familiarizing consumers with the unique experience a product offers. Marketers recognize the value in communicating about a product experience through analogy, but little research has...

Recent research notes a disconnect between what marketers deem new and innovative versus what consumers actually perceive. Many factors may contribute to this; however, the factor that has significant potential to first attract a consumer to a new product, visual aesthetic design, is...