Consumers Open to more Proactive Role in developing & Marketing Products

Gongos Research Study Indicates Upside to the Practice of “Co-Creation”

AUBURN HILLS, MI – June 7, 2010 – Where marketing research traditionally serves to uncover insights for products in the making, “co-creation” is acknowledged as a more proactive process, integrating consumers into the development process as early as the pre-planning stage. According to a survey conducted this month in Gongos Research’s Consumer Village—an online research community of over 20,000 members—consumers demonstrate significant interest in taking a more proactive role in developing new products, or enhancing existing ones.

In an inquiry of 1,000 men and women across the U.S. as to whether they were willing to engage in a company’s development process to assist in the creation of products, packaging and the marketing of those products, only 8% of consumers were opposed to or not interested in the idea of co-creation. Among six key consumer product categories included in the survey, respondents indicated the highest level of interest when it comes to Snacks and Beverages, with Consumer Electronics coming in second, followed by Health and Wellness.

“Companies are looking for new ways to bring consumers to the table,” says Michael Alioto, Ph.D. Vice President, Analytics for Gongos Research. “Engaging consumers in the pre-planning stages or early on in the design phase will account for critical ‘wants’ and ‘needs,’ lowering the risk of new product failure in the marketplace.”                                                                                                                                While consumers do not necessarily expect recognition or direct compensation from the company for their ideas, the survey reveals that 73% of consumers do, however, expect a sample of the product or a cash incentive (71%) in exchange for their ideas and/or their time investment. Additionally, 76% of consumers are willing to forego acknowledgement or creative license for their ideas, protecting the company from claims based on intellectual property rights or royalty expectations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  “While this is our initial study focused on ‘co-creation,’ it indicates that there is no real downside to integrating consumers into the full product creation mix, unless of course product designers and marketers see it as a threat to their livelihood, which they should not,” Alioto added.

Gongos Research manages Consumer Village, its proprietary metaCommunity®— a large-scale community of targeted off-shoot communities used for qualitative and quantitative research. The company defines co-creation as a philosophy that infuses consumers into the essence of the company’s development process, ultimately driving what it brings to the marketplace.