HONEY, I SHRUNK THE CAR!
Note: Graphics available on request, Sheila Nason (518) 276-6098, [email protected]
Walt Disney called it ìTomorrow Land,î a world of radically new products. To come up with ideas for such a Jetsons world, researchers at RensselaerÃs Lally School of Management and Technology seed consumer imaginations with tantalizing triggers such as blow-dry dog, fold clothes, or shrink car.
Consumers canÃt think of products that donÃt exist, so asking what they need is usually of limited value, says Jeffrey Durgee, associate professor of marketing. Instead, Durgee and his colleagues take a noun, such as food, and combine it with hundreds of computer-matched verbs to create a list of possible product functions. Some turn out to be ordinary, some radically new, and some bizarre: wrap food, unwrinkle food, eroticize food. Then they test consumer responses.
In a recent study with 30 mothers and 297 concepts, Durgee and his colleagues got enthusiastic responses to such fascinating possibilities as correct poorly cooked food, help food wait, compact food, convert to pet food, travel with food, and naturalize food (remove additives and preservatives).
When promising opportunities are defined, technological entrepreneurs can find ways to meet the need, says Durgee.
Contact: Jeff Durgee (518) 276-6588, [email protected]
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