New trends in innovation and customer relationship management - A challenge for market researchers

For decades, one of the key roles of market research has been to help companies forecast customer acceptance of innovation and of changes to the marketing mix (the 4Ps). However, traditional market research is in danger of being left behind by new practices in sales, marketing and R&D. Reflecting an increasingly participative approach to customer relationships, these disciplines are moving towards customer involvement and co-creation of value rather than innovation mainly generated by head office and only then tested among customers. Co-creation involves working participatively with customers to enhance the value they get when buying and using goods and services. It enables firms to understand and respond to deeper and more valuable customer needs, and reduces the inherent risks of innovation. Nor is this increasing trend towards co-creation limited to new product introduction. As companies invest in customer relationship management (CRM) programmes, they need to design new forms of relationship with those directly affected: their customers. As customers use internet-related technologies to manage their relationships with suppliers, co-creation will become a more important component of innovation and growth strategies. In this context, traditional market research approaches begin to look outdated. The authors illustrate, with a case study of a dotcom company, how action research can provide tools and methods by which market researchers can assist and improve the co-creation process. The implications for market researchers and research practices are identified.