Test Marketing in New Product Development

To every marketing executive, the necessity and value of test marketing are often murky issues. The problem is partly that new products aren’t developed and put through their paces in a systematic enough way to let marketing men know when a test market is really in order. Compounding this difficulty is that the goals of […]

by

and

Russell I. Haley

by

and

Russell I. Haley

From the Magazine (May 1976)

The executive must weigh a myriad of information as he decides whether to go with a new product. To help him in his decision, he may consider test marketing to gather yet more information.

A version of this article appeared in the May 1976 issue of Harvard Business Review.

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JK

Jay E. Klompmaker is assistant professor of business administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include advertising media scheduling, marketing productivity analysis, and the role of salesmen in market planning.
GH

Mr. Hughes is Burlington Industries Professor of Business Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has published extensively on marketing management topics. His present research interest is in microcomputer applications in strategic management. This is his third HBR article.
RH

Russell I. Haley is associate professor of business administration at the University of New Hampshire and president of Haley, Overholser and Associates, a consulting firm.

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Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Marketing Essentials. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.

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Test Marketing in New Product Development

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