Consumers 'Happy to Take Part in NPD'

US consumers demonstrate 'significant interest' in taking a more proactive role in developing new products, according to a survey conducted by Gongos Research among some of its 'Consumer Village' online community members.

Consumer Village - which has more than 20,000 members - was launched last year to provide a platform through which to conduct both qual and quant research.

Of the 1,000 members asked whether they would be willing to engage in a company's development process to assist in the creation of products, packaging and the marketing of those products, just 8% were opposed to or not interested in the idea of co-creation.

While consumers do not expect recognition or direct compensation from the company for their ideas, the survey revealed that 73% of consumers expect a sample of the product or a cash incentive (71%) in exchange for their ideas and/or the time they invest.

Additionally, 76% of respondents said they would be 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,' states Michael Alioto, VP of Analytics.

Web site: www.gongos.com .