5.8 Consumers in Stage 3: Product commercialisation

The consumer is involved in two parts of the product commercialisation: commercial design of product and marketing, and the commercial testing of the total commercial product (Earle and Earle, 2000) as shown in Fig. 5.14.

Fig. 5.14 Steps involving consumers and their needs in product commercialisation (Source: After Earle and Earle, 2000).
(- click to enlarge)

Figure 5.14 shows only the steps in the commercial design and commercial testing where consumers may be involved.

The final design of the commercial product is interwoven with the design of the marketing - the market channel, the promotions and advertising, the selling method and the pricing. The consumers are involved in various aspects of these designs - usually in focus groups or other types of consumer panels such as advertising panels.