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This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/07363769610130891. When citing the article, please cite: Dennis Pitta, Frank Franzak, (1996), “Boundary spanning product development in consumer markets: learning organization insights”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 13 Iss: 5, pp. 66 - 81.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of and the management of creative individuals in organizations.

The paper integrates concepts including a range of recently published (1995‐2006) theoretical works in the creative culture, creativity, and innovation literature.

The paper provides information and action approaches to marketers to aid them in harnessing creative talent within their organizations. Relevant literature shows that communities may be magnets that attract or repel creative individuals. Organizations can engineer themselves to become attractive to creatives. If marketers are skillful in managing creative individuals, the organization may enjoy increased competitiveness.

The theoretical concepts that form the foundation of the paper appear to have a significant application to consumer marketing but have not been tested empirically.

The study explores a global effect that has implications for the nature and scope of marketing orientation performance.

This paper describes the nature and application of creativity and creative culture to marketing. While most literature has concentrated on the city or community level, the paper provides a perspective that may help to nurture the creativity of individuals within an organization. It offers the potential of increasing marketing competitiveness by allowing firms to maximize their creativity as a competitive tool.

The objective of this paper is to develop a better understanding of brand engagement by examining two of its antecedents: design benefits and consumer emotions. The authors explore the relationship between design and brand engagement and advance a model with emotional responses as mediator.

This paper integrates a range of theoretical works across design and marketing, including concepts of product design, types of design benefits, brand engagement, and brand communities.

The authors propose a conceptual model where emotional arousal, which differs across design benefits, mediates the relationship between design benefits and brand engagement. Brand engagement intensifies with emotional arousal as design benefits change from functional, to hedonic, to symbolic.

The conceptual model proposed in this paper can have significant applications in the areas of product design, branding strategies, and brand communications. However, it has not been tested empirically.

The resulting model improves understanding of how marketers can use design to elicit different forms of brand engagement. Implications for marketers include planning brand engagement outcomes early in the product or service development process; involving consumers in that process, clearly communicating the benefits of the design; and supporting venues where brand engagement of different types can be practiced.

Brand engagement is unique brand-related behavior that has received limited attention in the design and marketing literatures. The proposed model offers a look at brand engagement from a design perspective, while emphasizing the role of consumers' emotional responses to design benefits.

This paper seeks to describe an innovative practice that has implications for new product developers.

The case study describes an approach to new product development for a product that satisfies a need, which is fraught with social stigma. Childhood obesity is growing to epidemic proportions in the USA. The problem is the result of a confluence of factors, including a more sedentary lifestyle and pressures on parents to work and spend less time interacting with their children. For its victims, the problem seems intractable.

The case demonstrates the need for a comprehensive and systematic approach to product development that provides a workable solution that a target segment will embrace. The product described required careful market segmentation beyond the basic economic analysis of who could afford it. The main issue was to portray the benefits in a way that the target audience would accept.

As in all case studies, the specific conditions found in one organization may not be found more generally in others. Readers are cautioned that the conclusion drawn in the case may have limited applicability.

The case depicts an innovative application of a behaviour modification device to a public health problem. Other organizations may find the technique of value in their own efforts.

The case describes a successful application of a medical device to address the childhood obesity problem. The work necessary to ensure that the PARS product was effective represents a new area of investigation in new product development.

Looks at recent product development literature which cites the improving but troubling success rates of newly introduced products and recommends integrating customer input as early as possible. Notes that, while companies have adopted cross‐functional product development teams, integrating customer input is uncommon. Suggests that, to increase product success consumers and other external information sources should be part of idea generation and should provide input throughout the rest of the product development process. Highlights several problems that exist which interfere with achieving that integration: many firms are not structured to gather, disseminate and exploit consumer preference data or their surrogates; and it is difficult to identify consumers who could provide ongoing interactive input. Reviews the relevant learning organization literature and relates it to the new product development process. Explores the successful lead user technique used in industrial marketing, describes its important components, and proposes a potentially useful extension ‐ boundary‐spanning product development teams. Describes boundary‐spanning product development teams which are composed of internal cross‐functional members and external members selected from suppliers, retailers and consumers.

There exists a vibrant literature dealing with one‐to‐one marketing and mass customization. The practice holds the promise of very satisfied customers, and profitable marketers who can create their own unassailable market positions. One of the building blocks of mass customization is knowledge of the customer and his/her complex set of preferences. There is a significant obstacle to gaining this information, namely the growing trend toward consumer privacy. Traditionally, businesses have collected massive amounts of information, hoping to identify responsive market segments. In the process, they have collected data on numerous individuals who would not realistically become customers. One solution to the problem is a strategic management approach involving an exchange of value between customers and marketers. Using a strategic approach, marketers can target the most attractive consumers, avoiding those whose lifetime value to the firm is low. By employing the relationship management processes of one‐to‐one marketing, marketers can avoid privacy issues altogether. This paper discusses the conceptual background of information based value exchange, proposes a new orientation toward customer relationship management and discusses several implications for marketers.

The purpose of this paper is to present a strategic framework to managing online loyalty.

The paper integrates concepts including a range of recently published (1993‐2006) theoretical works in consumer loyalty and ongoing case developments in internet practice.

Provides information and action approaches to consumer marketers that may increase the success providing want satisfying market offerings. Outlines the costs and benefits of some online customer loyalty building practices. By integrating the literature supporting lifetime customer value with the literature concerned with generating online customer relationships, it provides a pathway to profitable relationships. It also exposes the unintended problems that some online customer loyalty initiatives may create.

The theoretical concepts that form the foundation of the paper appear to have a significant application to consumer marketing but have not been tested empirically.

Uncovers a previously unreported strategy for generating profitable online customer loyalty.

This paper describes the nature and application of customer value tiers to an important marketing process. It offers the potential of increasing marketing success by allowing firms to maximize the value of their scarce service resources by serving profitable customers.

The purpose of this article is to provide an insight into the spice industry.

Uses Eastern Spice & Flavorings as a case study and focuses on its international product development group.

Despite the company's origins as a family‐owned small business, it competes in the global marketplace. To compete successfully, it must localize its blends. Until the company can establish new product development (NPD) centers in its major overseas markets, regional teams from Richmond that could travel to foreign markets to aid product development would be a solution to increasing sales.

Discusses Eastern Spice & Flavorings and its new product development.

The paper aims to track the development of service dominant logic (SDL) applied to brand management and highlights its essential elements. The paper attempts to extend the application of SDL to a form that makes the consumer part of the development process, a solution dominant approach.

The paper reviews the literature and suggests how brand managers can use service concepts, based on service‐dominance logic, to develop their new and differentiated products. The key is the relationship that customers develop with products, not the providers of those products, and how technology contributes to these linkages. This view, termed solution dominant, extends service dominant thinking. The paper also elaborates on the events and developments that have moved product development more firmly in the direction of relationships. Finally, it re‐examines some of the techniques that product developers use from a relationship perspective.

The relationship is the most important element in brand management. Relationships can take many forms based on the partners. While brand managers have traditionally focused on the relationship of the consumer with the brand, other relationships exist and are important. The internet has made it possible for consumer‐to‐consumer relationships to flourish. That presents both a challenge and opportunity for brand managers. Finally, an impending technological change reveals the potential importance of another relationship, consumer to thing (like a software application) which can build a bond, a relationship, between the consumer and a brand. The last logical possibility, thing‐to‐thing relationships already exist and their importance to brand managers is covered.

Service dominant logic and a focus on relationships has already been applied to brand management with success. It helps to refine the practice of branding. Consideration of a solution dominant logic, may help refine the practice further.

While service dominant logic has been applied to brand management, solution dominant logic, in which the consumer is part of the product/service design process has not been.

With the astounding growth of the Internet, the potential threats to consumer privacy have grown exponentially. Much of the threat lies hidden beneath the view of the average consumer. Information technology makes collecting potentially sensitive information automatic and unseen. Indeed, it is the job of marketers to collect salient information to ensure refining products and services to foster consumer satisfaction. The paper explores the issues surrounding the protection of consumer privacy and delineates a means by which the interests of both consumers and the organizations that serve them can be enhanced while protecting consumer privacy.