How marketers influence product platform decisions: A configurational approach
Edwin J. Nijssen, Ties van Bommel
kHUB post date: July 19, 2024
Originally published: January 21, 2024 (PDMA JPIM • Vol. 41, Issue 3 • May 2024)
Read time: 60 minutes
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This study identifies the political behavior marketers use to ensure the market fit of a new product platform. Drawing on two political NPD literature streams and configuration theory, the authors explain how (i) soft and hard influence tactics, (ii) reason, (iii) marketers' experience (with product and portfolio decisions), and (iv) the type of product platform (smart vs. conventional), together determine marketers' political effectiveness in gaining support for design modifications from the development team. The framework and hypotheses are tested using data from a sample of 100 influence attempts by marketers. A fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis reveals no single, optimal solution but three “influence recipes.” First, we find a generic solution for both smart and conventional product platforms that combines marketer experience with reason and coalition building. Second, we note two additional solutions for smart product platforms: one consisting of marketer experience with coalition building and another one combining marketer experience with reason and assertiveness. Regression results reveal a positive relationship between marketers' influence behavior and platform performance in the marketplace, in support of a complementary and functional role of marketers' political behaviors in innovation management.
Practitioner Points
- Politics are omnipresent in platform development but more prevalent in uncertain smart than conventional platform development.
- Our regression results confirm a positive impact of marketers' political behaviors on product platform development and performance.
- The most prevalent “political recipe” combines coalition building with reason. It applies to both smart and conventional platform development.
- Experience in portfolio management is a necessary condition for marketers to reach their political objectives. Marketers need adequate training and skills before they can effectively participate in new platform development.
- A surprising 28.2% of marketer political failure can be traced to a single political recipe: marketers' use of upward appeal without attention to coalition building, and neglecting assertiveness. Interestingly, both experienced marketers and novices make this mistake.