176 CHAPTER 7 INTRODUCINGANDMANAGINGTHEPRODUCT
TheythoroughlyfIlledasensoryspaceintermsoftexture,flavor,sL:;e,
andappearancewith 25 -20products.
Aquestionrairewasdevelopedthatrequiredquantita t iveratings
(suchas100%scalerating,,)ofproductattributesthatwereunique
tosomeproducts.Therewerequestionsabou thardness, chewiness,
crispness,flavorintensity,degreeoffruitflavor,sweetness,tartness,
color,andmanymore. Over alllikingforeachproductwasalso
measured.
Howwelleachproductandbrandperformed-theoverallliking
scoreforeachproduct-wasnotanobjectiveofthestudy.Thepoint
wastodiscoverthemostgeneralizeddriversofconsumeracceptability
intheconfectionaryca tegory.Productswererankedbytheirper form-
anceandkeysensoryproperties.Closes tudyofthedatarevealed
thattheseconsumerswere:nottheleastbitinfluencedbybrand.
Overalltastewasthedominantfactor.Second, anewchocolateprod-
uctheldthemostpromis e. Ofallflavors explored,chocolatecapti-
vatedconsumersmost.Infact,theidealproductis chocolate-filled
chocolateswithchocolatedippingsauce.Sources:JeffBraun, "OvercomingtheOdds. "MarketingNews,March29,
1999.pp.15-16:DavidFishben,"SweetSuccess:CategoryAppraisalis
ProvenSourceofNewIdeas,"MarketingNews.March29,1999,pp.15-16;
TominaEdmark."On YourMark,"Entrepreneur,April 1 999,pp.161-162;Lau-
rieFreeman,"Brach'sFruitSnacksShapes,"AdvertisingAge.June 28 , 1999,
pp.5-7.Therearetwocommontechniques forscreening newproductideas;bothinvolvethe
co mparisonofa potentialproductideaagainstcIiteriaofacceptable newproducts.Thefirst
techniqueisa si.nple checklist.Forexample, newproduct ideascanberatedona scale rang-
ingfromverygoodt8poor,inrespecttocIiteriasuchas:valueadded,salesvolume,patent
protection,affeclonpresentproducts, andso forth.Unfortunately,itisquite difficultforraters
todefinewhatisfairorpoor.Also,it doesnotaddresstheissueof thetimeande;;pense
associatedwitheachidea,nordoesitinstructwithregardtothescores. A secondtechnique
goesbeyondthefirst:the criteriaareassignedimportanceweights andthentheproductsare
ratedona pointscalemeasuringproductcompatibility.These scores arethenmultipliedby
theirrespectiveweightsandaddedtoyielda totalscoreforthenewproductidea. Table7.1
providesanexampleofboththesetechniquesforscre eningnewproductideas.Step3:BusinessAnalysis
AfterthevaIiousproductideassurvivetheirinitial screen,veryfewviableproposalswill
remain.Beforethedevelopmentofprototypes canbedecidedupon, however, a furthereval-
uationwillbeconductedtogatheradditionalinformationontheseremainingideasinorder
tojustifytheenormouscostsrequired.Thefocusofthe businessanalysisisprimarilyon
profits, butotherconsiderationssuchassocialresponsibilitiesmayalso beinvolved.
Thefirststepinthebusinessanalysisis toexaminetheprojecteddemand.This would
includetwomajor~ourcesofrevenue:thesalesoftheproductandthe salesorlicenseof
thetechnologydevelopedfororgeneratedasa by-productofthegivenproduct.