Customer participation is no panacea for the development of new products

In some contexts, involving the customers can have detrimental effects, argue Woojung Chang and Steven Taylo

Comparing reflective and formative measures : new insights from relevant simulations

Previous simulations comparing formative and reflective models specify formative population models as the only correct model for a given construct, and compare them with various mis-specified reflective models. However, this approach does not generalize to situations where both reflective and formative specifications can work well to assess constructs. To address this limitation, this study presents simulations in which both formative and reflective specifications fit the underlying population data equally well. The results show that reflective specifications generate less biased and more powerful results than formative specifications, and make a strong case for considering standardized rather than unstandardized coefficients for both specifications. Therefore, conceptual and empirical consequences of using reflective models for constructs that could also be modeled as formative are less dire than past research has suggested

The danger of feast or famine: Managing customer participation in value co-production

Customer participation in the new product development (NPD) process is becoming more common. Involving customers in the NPD process has been widely considered to enhance market adoption of co-created products and speed up time to market. However, several potential risks relevant to coordination among co-production activities have been raised in recent studies. Drawing on coordination theory, this dissertation examines the conditions under which customer participation in the NPD process improves or deteriorates new product success. The specific focus is on non-linear relationships between customer participation and market adoption and time to market. Furthermore, this dissertation investigates the differential effects on market adoption and time to market of when customers are engaged, the breadth of customer participation, NPD teams' capability to leverage customer insights, product individuality, and price positioning strategy of co-produced products. In Study 1, the hypotheses were tested using data from 647 NPD projects from SourceForge.net, a leading open source software development repository in which end users are involved in developing new software. To test generalizability of the results, Study 2 investigated the same hypotheses based on survey data from 159 NPD managers who have worked on NPD projects in which customers have been involved to some extent to co-create new products. The results of Study 1 show that customer participation enhances market adoption up to a certain point but degrades it beyond that point. Furthermore, the inverted U-shaped relationship between customer participation and market adoption is moderated by breadth of customer participation and the NPD team's co-production capability. With regard to time to market, the findings of Study 1 demonstrate that customer participation continuously slows time to market, confirming serious risks of customer participation. Although the curvilinear relationship found in Study 1 is not extended to various industries of Study 2, the results of Study 2 still indicate that the relationship between customer participation and market adoption is moderated by the timing and breadth of customer participation, and product individuality. The findings highlight a close analysis of benefits and costs of customer participation and provide insights into how and when customers should be engaged in the NPD process

Breast and cervical cancer screening for risk assessment in Cambodian women

The estimated mortality rates for breast and cervical cancer in Cambodia are high, perhaps because the Cambodian population lacks information about their detection and prevention. This cross-sectional study assessed the distribution of cervical cancers among and the behavioural and clinical characteristics of Cambodian women. It comprised 1039 Cambodian women who were interviewed between August 2013 and January 2016; the interviews were conducted in person using structured questionnaires. Among the participants, 801 (77.2%) and 709 (68.3%) had heard of cervical cancer and cervical cancer detection tests, respectively. However, 830 (80.2%) had never undergone a Pap smear, and 633 (60.9%) had never heard of breast self-examination. Despite the high mortality rates for breast and cervical cancer in Cambodia, only a small percentage of the participants had risk factors (e.g. smoking, alcohol consumption) for female cancers. A nationwide survey of the knowledge, attitudes and practices related to female cancers is recommended.Impact Statement What is already known on this subject? The estimated incidence and mortality rates of breast and cervical cancers in Cambodia are high. How much Cambodian women know about these cancers and whether they are receptive to cancer screening are questions requiring further study. What do the results of this study add? To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe the female cancer-related behavioural and clinical characteristics of Cambodian women. We show that rural Cambodian women are mostly unaware of breast and cervical cancer screening and that only a small percentage had risk factors for these cancers, despite the high incidence of these cancers in Cambodia. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Our findings potentially aid the design of programmes that increase awareness of breast and cervical cancers in Cambodia. Such programmes would be expected to reduce the incidence and mortality rates of these cancers in this country. Nationwide screening programmes for female cancers should be implemented in Cambodia

Beneficial Effects of a Specially Designed Home Meal Replacement on Cardiometabolic Parameters in Individuals with Obesity: Preliminary Results of a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

We aimed to investigate if a home meal replacement (HMR), designed with a low ω-6/ω-3 fatty acid ratio, improves cardiometabolic parameters, including metabolic syndrome (MetS) in obese individuals. We conducted a monocentric, controlled, randomized crossover trial. The HMR contains higher protein and fat content, lower carbohydrate content, and a lower ω6FA/ω3FA ratio than the regular diet. Sixty-four participants were randomized into two groups and switched to the other group following a 4-week intervention. While subjects in the HMR group were provided three HMRs daily, those in the control group were requested to maintain their regular dietary pattern. We conducted paired t-tests, repeated measures analysis of variance, and McNemar tests before and after the intervention. Body mass index (BMI) and weight were lower in the HMR group after adjusting for age, sex, and total energy intake and significantly changed in the between-group differences. The waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, triglyceride–glucose index, and triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio were reduced in the HMR group (all p < 0.05). The percentage of subjects with MetS significantly decreased from 39.1% at baseline to 28.1% post-intervention (p = 0.035). Using the HMR for 4 weeks reduced the BMI, weight, and MetS prevalence in individuals with obesity. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04552574)

The danger of feast or famine: managing customer participation in value co-production

Customer participation in the new product development (NPD) process is becoming more common. Involving customers in the NPD process has been widely considered to enhance market adoption of co-created products and speed up time to market. However, several potential risks relevant to coordination among co-production activities have been raised in recent studies. Drawing on coordination theory, this dissertation examines the conditions under which customer participation in the NPD process improves or deteriorates new product success. The specific focus is on non-linear relationships between customer participation and market adoption and time to market. Furthermore, this dissertation investigates the differential effects on market adoption and time to market of when customers are engaged, the breadth of customer participation, NPD teams' capability to leverage customer insights, product individuality, and price positioning strategy of co-produced products. In Study 1, the hypotheses were tested using data from 647 NPD projects from SourceForge.net, a leading open source software development repository in which end users are involved in developing new software. To test generalizability of the results, Study 2 investigated the same hypotheses based on survey data from 159 NPD managers who have worked on NPD projects in which customers have been involved to some extent to co-create new products. The results of Study 1 show that customer participation enhances market adoption up to a certain point but degrades it beyond that point. Furthermore, the inverted U-shaped relationship between customer participation and market adoption is moderated by breadth of customer participation and the NPD team's co-production capability. With regard to time to market, the findings of Study 1 demonstrate that customer participation continuously slows time to market, confirming serious risks of customer participation. Although the curvilinear relationship found in Study 1 is not extended to various industries of Study 2, the results of Study 2 still indicate that the relationship between customer participation and market adoption is moderated by the timing and breadth of customer participation, and product individuality. The findings highlight a close analysis of benefits and costs of customer participation and provide insights into how and when customers should be engaged in the NPD process. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries