FACTORS THAT AFFECT CUSTOMER PARTICIPATION IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT OF STARBUCKS

Abstract

Customer participation and their involvement in new product development has become a topic of importance for many academicians and industry players. It becomes important especially in the last decades due to its importance for increasing the performance of the company above its competitors. Hence, examining the factors that affect customer participation in new product development of a company has gained great significance in recent times. As such, this study addressed this gap and examines the factors that influence the participation of customers in new product development. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. The questionnaire was distributed personally. The sample of the study was 140 university students studying in 3 different private universities in Malaysia including INTI, Nilai University and Sunway University. Different statistical analyses were used to analyse the data including multiple regression and correlation analysis. Reviewing literature showed that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, compatibility and observability are expected to influence customer participation intention in the new product development of Starbucks corporation. The result of the data analysis confirmed the hypotheses of the study and revealed that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, compatibility, observability and perceived enjoyment have significant positive influence on customers’ involvement in online new product development of Starbucks corporation.