Devil or angel : how virtual testing environment can affect product evaluations

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

International Journal of Market Research

Publication Date

1-1-2011

Volume

53

Issue

3

First Page

415

Last Page

437

Publisher

Sage Publications Ltd.

Abstract

While new product evaluation testing plays a pivotal role in the NPD process, there is little empirical evidence on the influence of the virtual testing environment on the evaluation results and the data quality. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by using a split-sample online concept testing-like study to compare the testing results in traditional and virtual environments for five heterogeneous innovations. The findings indicate that both traditional and virtual testing environments yield identical mean scores, while the latter provides higher-quality data given the same sampling design. Early concept or product tests, therefore, may be carried out in a more realistic testing environment using virtual techniques, which could substantially enhance the quality of testing data.

DOI

10.2501/IJMR-53-3-415-437

Print ISSN

14707853

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2011 Sage Publications Ltd

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Peng, L., He, Y., & Wan, X. (2011). Devil or angel: How virtual testing environment can affect product evaluations. International Journal of Market Research, 53(3), 415-437. doi: 10.2501/IJMR-53-3-415-437

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