Application of Conjoint Analysis to the Fuzzy Front End of a Product Design A Case Study of the Indian Auto Industry

Abstract

New products that deliver added consumer value contribute significantly newlineto the success of companies In the numerous studies of new product performance newlineover the years consensus has been developed that the understanding of consumer newlineneeds is of paramount strategic value especially in the early stages of the product newlinedevelopment process During these early stages the product has not yet been newlinespecified and the aim is to search for novel product ideas from a marketing and newlinetechnological perspective Despite their importance several studies indicate that newlineconsumer research methodologies are underutilised in the early stages of new newlineproduct development The aim of this thesis is to analyse key issues and newlinedevelop and illustrate appropriate use of consumer research methodology at early newlinestages of the new product development process as the most distinguishing newlinecharacteristic of a successful product development project newlineConsumer research can be confirmative in its focus of testing new product newlineconcepts before launch and in this way prevents unjustified investments Consumer newlineresearch can also be proactive in that it aims to identify new product ideas that newlinedeliver against consumer needs that are not yet fulfilled by products currently newlinein the market Successful new product development requires a balance between newlineboth types of consumer research The research in this thesis focuses on evaluating newlinethe most desirable consumer research tool so that the VoC Voice of the customer newlineis appropriately and completely captured and translated into the VoD Voice of the newlineDesigner early in the product design stage Conjoint Analysis is hitherto used in newlineiv newlinesocial science studies for assessing behaviours Conjoint analysis as the name newlineindicates CONsiders all the attributes JOINTly in a statistical manner Quality newlineFunction Deployment QFD is a planning tool developed by engineers It is used to newlineassure that the voice of the customer is heard all the way throughout a company in newlineorder to manufacture products with high customer satisfaction.