Marketing research and new product development success in Thai food processing

Marketing plays an important role in new product development (NPD) through several mechanisms. One is crossfunctional communication and collaboration so that marketing issues are integrated into the NPD process. Another is the strategic orientation of NPD, which includes marketing strategy issues such as customer orientation and market fit. Third, marketing research plays a specific role, as it provides the information and knowledge which marketing brings into its NPD roles. We show that use of marketing research is the most important determinant of higher NPD success in Thailand's food processing industry. Crossfunctional communication is also an important success factor, but strategy and planning elements are not very critical in this industry in Thailand. [EconLit classification: M310; Q130.] © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 19: 169-188, 2003.