The impact of intangible value on the design and marketing of new products and services: An exploratory approach

Innovators are always confronted with the issue of how to identify, measure, design, produce, communicate, and deliver the intangible qualities of their new products and services to their target markets. Intangible product attributes can have a dramatic affect on the market success of a new product or service, but the product and service design process seldom accounts for such attributes. Customers desire complete solutions. It is not sufficient to ldquojustrdquo offer a core product or service. Companies need to deliver products that are unique, create customer value, and build long-term relationships with customers that often depend on intangible factors. In addition to the physical product, services and intangible product attributes such as knowledge, emotion, and the customer experience are important and perhaps primary elements, in the total value equation. This paper will present a taxonomic review of the literature on intangible product and service value, identify key research issues, propose intangible-value models for future research, and explore the impacts on the new product development and marketing strategy processes.