Measuring Channel Sensitivities to New Industrial Service Designs: Managerial Implications

An important consideration when designing new product services for a marketing channel is the extent to which the service should be differentiated to meet the requirements of alternative customer groups. This article is a report on whether a new wool testing service, which has potential customers at three levels in a marketing channel, should be differentiated. Customer judgement models are developed and used to test the sensitivities of the three customer groups to the accuracy,price and turnaround time for the new service. The results demonstrate substantial differences in preference among the three groups. Recommendations are made that these preference models be used in the development and commercialisation of the service.