Online customer communities: redefining customer participation in NPD

Abstract

The development of new products is a challenging task. With the underlying. knowledge base of most products becoming more diverse and dynamic, new product development (NPD) teams are increasingly seeking external resources to overcome the learning curves related to new technologies and new markets. The promise of customers as an external resource for new product development has been recognized in practice and in theory for a long time. However, customers have, until recently, played a limited and largely passive role in the development of new products. Specifically, this paper examines the potential impact of technology-based online customer networks on new product development.