Rotterdam school of Management, Erasmus University compact logo

Article: Monday, 5 September 2016

‘Always listen to your customer’ might not be the best advice when designing new products, says Professor Jan van den Ende of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM). The results of his new study show that including customers in the design process is a good idea only when developing radical innovations designed around functionality. He found that companies that design radically new innovations for aesthetics, or for an emotional experience or to suit the identity of the user, are better off not involving customers. For these kinds of ‘hedonic’ innovations, asking what customers want can even reduce the chance of market success, the researchers found.

When ignoring customers’ opinions can lead to more successful products

Passengers disembarking from a train onto a quiet platform during off-peak hours.

Developing products in co-operation with customers is a fashionable practice in product design, says Van den Ende. But so far, studies of the effects of customers’ contributions to market success are not conclusive.

Some researchers claim that customers’ fresh thoughts allow them to break from the traditional company mould and come up with brilliant ideas for new products more easily. They are also not bound by the company’s history and are not attached to current innovations, which makes them more creative innovators.

Other studies have suggested that customer opinions cannot predict a product’s market success because customers do not have the design expertise and are usually not very good at judging prototypes that look unlike anything they have seen before.

The reception of a hedonic innovation is a complicated social process that is very hard to predict by involving potential customers in the design stage.

Functional or hedonic

Van den Ende and his co-authors Marina Candi and Gerda Gemser were intrigued by these contradictions and suspected that the value of the customer’s input could depend on the type of innovation under development. The researchers distinguish between utilitarian innovations and hedonic innovations:

1. Utilitarian Innovations

Create new functions or technology in a product

2. Hedonic Innovations

Designed to convey radical new sensorial or emotional experiences or new identity expressions in a product or service

To test this idea, the researchers studied 132 recent innovation projects in Dutch firms by interviewing each business manager and leading project manager. Was their innovation more utilitarian or hedonic in nature? How had customers been involved in the development, and had the product become a market success? Success was defined by customers’ level of acceptance of the product, the revenues it had generated and its profitability.


Utilitarian innovations

The results showed that involving customers in product development led to more market success for radical innovations that were mostly utilitarian. But for hedonic innovations, co-development with customers actually decreased the chances of market success.

Van den Ende says these results can be explained by looking at differences in the design process. Every step of the design process for a successful functional innovation requires the company to make decisions about the technical and functional properties of the product or service. Feedback from potential customers, especially early in the design process, can help to limit the options to be explored before the final product is finalised. That makes customer feedback valuable for utilitarian innovations, especially if they are radical, says Van den Ende.


Hedonic innovations

For hedonic innovations, market success is often the result of a social process, Van den Ende continues. Who is rooting for the innovation in the product on social media, and who hates it? How does this public discussion change public opinions of the product? And importantly, what do expert reviewers say? The reception of a hedonic innovation is a complicated social process that is very hard to predict by involving potential customers in the design stage. Hedonic innovations also frequently rely on an element of surprise, so asking customers how they would like to be surprised does not lead to the most innovative answers, van den Ende concludes.

prof.dr.ir. J.C.M. (Jan) van den Ende
Professor of Management of Technology and Innovation
Rotterdam School of Management (RSM)
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Photo
Jan van den Ende
Pile of books with vibrant bookmarks protruding from various pages, symbolizing in-depth research.

Related articles

RSM Discovery

Want to elevate your business to the next level using the latest research? RSM Discovery is your online research platform. Read the latest insights from the best researchers in the field of business. You can also subscribe to the newsletter to receive a bimonthly highlight with the most popular articles.

Do you want to learn more about this subject?

Check out these RSM education programmes

Design Thinking
Design Thinking
  • 7 May 2025
  • 6 weeks
  • 1,300
Innovation Management
Innovation Management
  • 11 Nov 2024
  • 3 days
  • 4,100
Make Strategy Work
Make Strategy Work
  • 3 days
  • 3,800
Strategic Problem Solving
Strategic Problem Solving
  • 27 Nov 2024
  • 2 days
  • 2,700
Diploma Programme in General Management
Diploma Programme in General Management
  • 1 year
    • €14,825 -
    • €15,425 depending on modules chosen *
    • * see details on the page
Your contact for more information:
Danielle Baan

Science Communication and Media Officer

Portrait of Erika Harriford-McLaren
Erika Harriford-McLaren

Corporate Communications & PR Manager

Erasmus University campus in autumn, showcasing its iconic red trees, viewed from across the campus pool.