How marketers influence product platform decisions: A configurational approach
研究营销人员如何通过软硬影响策略、理性、经验及产品平台类型等要素的组合，成功说服开发团队修改设计以确保市场契合，并发现三种有效的影响配方。
Abstract 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.