90% of new product market research focuses on product modifications and additions instead of concepts because improvements are natural developments and are typically more readily accepted by customers than entirely new products.
Conceptually new products can be extremely risky:
- FedEx lost $340 million on a new zap mail system.
- DuPont lost $100 million on their Coram Synthetic Leather products.
Companies must commit to using market research as a type of insurance to minimize risk and apply the skills of market research analysts to interpret their product development research findings and gain insights.
