Lead User

The concept of lead users ( trend leading users, trend leading customer) was introduced by Eric von Hippel 1986.

Lead users are users who rush their needs with the requirements of the mass market ahead and promise will bring particular benefits of a needs satisfaction / problem resolution. The term is used both for business ( business customers) as well as for end consumers (retail ) and applies to the material goods - as well as the service sector.

Definition

Lead users often occur even at as innovators. Due to the high value they expect from a satisfaction of their needs, they are highly motivated to find a solution. In addition, lead users are at the time of intensive study with the respective subject -specific skills and knowledge. Thus, lead users have in many cases a certain expert status and consumption, market and solution expertise.

Lead users innovate rarely in isolation. In many cases, they participate in informal communities in the interest of information exchange and mutual assistance (so-called user-to- user assistance ). Here, the Internet as a medium to take a crucial function. So today use a lot of lead user communities online forums as a communication platform. From a corporate perspective is this, specifically enhanced the self-selection of lead users, which for example present their problems in the context of a design contest.

Lead User Method

The Lead User Method is a process in which a provider attempts to specifically involve lead users in product development. The method is typically carried out in four phases:

This form of cooperative product development of a company with lead users poses both opportunities and risks. Especially against the background of increasingly complex products meets the classic lead user methodology to its limits.

Possible opportunities:

  • Identification of customer needs and innovative solutions that are ahead of the market trends
  • Future market developments can be better determined than by classical market research
  • Early detection of market risks
  • Obtaining information on competitors
  • Improve the quality of customer orientation at the product development phase

Potential risks:

  • The customer jumps from
  • Delay the launch by the Lead User
  • Higher overhead
  • Concentration on niche solutions that are not suitable for the mass market

Critically noted are problems that can occur in agreement with the lead users, for example, Property rights or authority to issue rules. From practical point of view, problems continue to arise in relation to implementation time, cost and manpower for implementing the method according to the classical approach. Newer versions of the Lead User Method integrate classic market research approaches, such as the conjoint analysis, in early stages of concept development and thus address the problem of African development.

Marketing research
503506
de