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Lead Users and Early Adopters on the Web: The Role
of New Technology Product Blogs
Cornelia Droge, Michael A. Stanko, and Wesley A. Pollitte
Lead users and early adopters are often blogging or reading and commenting on blogs. Blogs, which are charac-
terized by postings, links, and readers’ comments, create a virtual ‘‘community’’ of blogger and readers. Members
self-select, and then the community gels around a theme or idea, product, industry, hobby, or any other subject.
While community creation is one chief function of blogs, the information-sharing, entertainment, or self- or value-
expressive functions are also important. Thus, new product development (NPD) managers can glean a great deal of
information about what these audiences are thinking. The significance of blogging to NPD managers also lies in the
shift of focus from being separate from to being immersed in these communities. Immersion enhances the potential of
close relationships, sharing experiences, and co-creating value with blogging communities through innovation. The
focus of the study is on the roles of blogs in new product development, and an exploratory content analysis of new
technology product blog postings is described. The goal was to examine what blogs actually say (and don’t say) and
to classify content based on the core elements of the marketing mix: product (including attributes and service
aspects); price (including price comparisons); channel; and promotion. The bulk of the content was in the product
category: for example, features (mentioned by 87.14%); overall evaluations (52.86%); performance (28.57%);
compatibility (27.14%); ease of use (20%); and style (17.14%). About half discussed price, and about half dis-
cussed some channel aspect. The content is analyzed in detail, and implications for NPD mangers are discussed.
People voluntarily join new product blogging communities, and if the manager of that product is not ‘‘present’’ (at
least as an observer of this ‘‘straw poll’’) an entire new product marketing agenda can be set by the community.
Implicitly or explicitly, blogs can position the value proposition of the product in a prime target audience’s mind.
Such positioning could be advantageous or catastrophic as far as the NPD manager is concerned.
Introduction
Many e-commerce research issues are being
addressed in the literature (see Parasura-
man and Zinkhan, 2002; Peterson,
Balasubramanian, and Bronnenberg, 1997; Varadara-
jan and Yadav, 2002 for overviews of the issues).
Examples include home shopping via the Internet
(Childers et al., 2001), e-customization (Ansari and
Mela, 2003), information search (Ratchford, Lee, and
Talukdar, 2003), pricing issues (Ancarani and Shank-
ar, 2004), and the e-marketing mix (Kalyanam and
McIntyre, 2002). Business success factors (Wu, Maha-
jan, and Balasubramanian, 2003) as well as failure of
e-businesses (Mahajan, Srinivasan, and Wind, 2002)
have been studied. The body of research focuses pri-
marily on company e-commerce sites. There has been,
however, no study on the significance of blogs in new
product development and commercialization.
Blogs have an Internet address and one or more of
postings,links, and readers’ comments. A blog forms
an Internet-based, networked community centered
around a theme or idea, product, industry, activity,
hobby, or any other subject. Blogs can have major
implications for new product development (NPD)
managers because some are focused on new products
or new ideas. Connecting to blogs represents estab-
lishing relationships with these communities and shar-
ing experiences with these communities; thus, blogs
can be part of what von Hippel (2005, p. 167) refers
to as the ‘‘information commons.’’ By connecting to
blogs, NPD managers can also possibly co-create
value with these communities (Vargo and Lusch,
2004). Co-creation, or the shift from developing new
products internally toward knowledge creation and
learning with customers, is part of what Chesbrough
(2003) coined ‘‘open innovation’’ across firm bound-
aries. In short, the NPD manager can shift from being
separated from to being immersed in these communi-
ties. The implications for NPD managers can be seen
The authors wish to thank the editor of JPIM and anonymous re-
viewers for their help in improving this article.
Address correspondence to: Cornelia Droge, Department of Mar-
keting, The Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, Michigan
State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824. Tel.: (517) 432-6405.
E-mail: droge@msu.edu.
J PROD INNOV MANAG 2010;27:66–82
r2009 Product Development & Management Association
at various stages of the new product development
process, ranging from precommercialization informa-
tion-gathering functions to segmentation and posi-
tioning during commercialization. In particular, this
research’s interest lies in new technology product
blogs, and the goal is to explore the utility of such
blogs for managers of NPD processes.
The paper is organized as follows. First, the blo-
gosphere in general is discussed. The blogosphere, or
universe of Internet blogs, contains tens of millions of
blogs that can be searched through Ask (http://blog
search.ask.com), Sphere (http://sphere.com), Google
Blog Search (http://blogsearch.google.com), Techno-
rati (http://technorati.com), or other engines (Patrick,
2007; Vascellaro, 2006). After blogs are defined, key
questions are addressed, such as the following: Who
writes blogs? What topics are written about? Who
reads blogs? Next, the focus is on new technology
product blogs. Since customer, supplier, and other
input into the NPD process has long been advocated,
the key question is whether blogs can provide such
input. New technology product postings are sampled
from the influential blogs Engadget (http://engad
get.com) and Gizmodo (http://gizmodo.com). The pa-
per ends with implications for NPD managers.
Background: The Blogosphere
What Are Blogs?
Blogs are characterized by an Internet address and
one or more of postings,links, and readers’ comments.
Because they reside on the Internet, blogs have the
characteristics of ubiquity, universality, uniqueness,
and unison (Watson et al., 2002). It is not difficult for
anyone, even without much technical skill, to set up
a blog (e.g., on Blogger [http://blogger.com] or My-
Space [http://myspace.com]; see also Gardner, 2005).
As Internet usage increased, the number of bloggers
and blog readers increased (see Reynolds, 2006 for
a history). Pew Internet & American Life Project
(http://www.pewinternet.org) found that 9% of Inter-
net users have created blogs. However, according to
Demos (2006), a search of the Fortune 500 for official
company blogs open to the public found just 24
(mostly technology companies). A recent survey
claims that 32% of companies worldwide either cur-
rently use or plan to use blogs along with other ‘‘so-
cial’’ software (Totty, 2007).
The first characteristic of blogs is that blogs have
original postings written by a single author or by sev-
eral authors. The blogging site is ‘‘run’’ either by one
individual or by the joint effort of a specific group of
individuals. For example, Reynolds (2006), blogging
at Instapundit.com (http://instapundit.com), provides
‘‘instant’’ postings about current events, as well as
postings about his passions for space colonization and
transhumanism. Blogs can be run, for example, by
enthusiasts or disparagers of a brand, company, or
industry; by computer professionals, authors, jour-
nalists, analysts, lawyers, managers, or anyone; by
corporations or other organizations that employ
someone to run the blog; or by individuals or groups
interested in an idea, product, service, country, theme,
or politics. However, some blogs are much more in-
fluential than others; in fact, blogs can be divided into
the ‘‘A’’ list of influential blogs versus all others
(Thompson, 2006), but note that blog popularity
can be difficult to measure. While there are few influ-
ential bloggers (or ‘‘Internet pundits’’), their impact
can be disproportionately large (Johnson, 2006).
Second, blogs may have links to other Internet ad-
dresses. Any other Internet address that has content
related to the original posting can be linked, but other
blogs are often linked for the additional reason of in-
creasing reader traffic. Note that the original posting
need not be text, video, or photos, but may be simply,
‘‘Check out (specific link or links).’’ In this case, the
meaning of such a posting is embedded in the links,
and the contribution of the blogger lies in setting the
agenda by specifying some links and not others.
Third, many blogs have a reader comments section,
where readers can (1) post their thoughts in reaction
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Dr. Cornelia Droge is professor of marketing in the Department of
Marketing in the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management at
Michigan State University. Her research interests include new prod-
uct development strategy, cross-functional and interorganizational
relationships, environmental impacts, and electronic commerce. She
has published extensively in the Journal of Product Innovation Man-
agement and other journals.
Dr. Michael A. Stanko is assistant professor of marketing at the
Jenkins Graduate School of Management at North Carolina State
University. His research interests include new product development
(specifically innovation outside traditional firm boundaries) as well
as business-to-business marketing. He has published previously in
the Journal of Product Innovation Management and Industrial Mar-
keting Management.
Dr. Wesley A. Pollitte is assistant professor of marketing at the
University of Southern Mississippi. His research interests are mar-
keting strategy, interorganizational relationships, electronic com-
merce, and network organization.
NEW PRODUCT BLOGS: LEAD USERS ON THE WEB J PROD INNOV MANAG
2010;27:66–82
67
to the original postings, the links, or other readers’
comments, or (2) introduce new content or links. Oc-
casionally readers have unique, possibly obscure
knowledge (because the Internet casts a wide net),
and bloggers will update the original postings based
on comments. Readers can also add entertainment
value and are sometimes deliberately encouraged or
even provoked to comment about ‘‘hot’’ topics to in-
crease visitor popularity counts (and thus make the
blog more attractive to advertisers). But moderation
or censorship by the blogger may be necessary to con-
trol spamming, obscenity, and the like.
More people read blogs than post comments, of
course. Pew Internet & American Life Project (http://
www.pewinternet.org) found that 27% of Internet us-
ers have read a blog and that 7% read a blog ‘‘yes-
terday,’’ about the same percentage who paid bills,
sought job information, or searched for a map. Rainie
(2005) summarizes many of the results. These Pew
surveys are compared to a similar Gallop poll by Blu-
menthal (2006) on Pollster.com (http://mysterypoll
ster.com), a blog about survey polling issues.
Blog Communities
‘‘Communities’’ are created around a theme or idea,
product, industry, hobby, or any other subject and are
held together by the original postings, the links, and
the reader comments. A sense of community was
identified as part of the e-marketing mix by Kaly-
anam and McIntyre (2002). The ‘‘A’’ list blogs almost
always have active, knowledgeable (1) bloggers (who
post frequently and whose postings and links are in-
teresting, entertaining, and provocative for the target
audience); and (2) regular readers who post extensive
comments (and possibly links). As John Hopkins said,
reader comments ‘‘are a good way to get instant feed-
back and also help build a sense of community’’ (Tay-
lor, 2006).
The community is held together by the ‘‘topic’’ or
subject matters. Virtually any topic has been ad-
dressed by one or more bloggers. Table 1 gives sev-
eral examples that were chosen to illustrate the
diversity of subject matter in the blogosphere. There
is even a blog focused on comments taken from other
people’s blogs (Taylor, 2006), a blog aggregating
other blogs on specific topics like technology (Gomes,
2005), and a blog about blogs in general (e.g., see
Glover, 2006). A portfolio of blogs was compiled by
the Wall Street Journal beat reporters (2005) identi-
fying the essential blogs in a variety of areas, including
real estate, advertising, Wall Street, health care, the-
ater, taxes, and venture capital. The Journal also has
‘‘Blog Watch’’ (e.g., Meyer, 2006 focuses on ‘‘dads’’
Table 1. Examples Illustrating the Diversity of Subject
Matter on Blogs
Blog Focus Examples:
Products (Not
Company
Sponsored)
Solsticeforum.com’s authors were invited by
GM to preview the new Pontiac Solstice
convertible, because the blog is devoted to
this car.
Industries Peter DeLorenzo in 1999 started
autoextremist.com, which focuses on the car
business. ‘‘Jolie in NYC’’ (http://
nadinehaobsh.com) focuses on the beauty
industry.
Ideas Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dubner blog
(http://freakonomics.com/blog) in connection
with the book of the same name. Reynolds
(2006) becomes famous on http://
instapundit.com and then writes a book.
Evaluations or
Meanings of
Products
Lengthy personal accounts of the meanings
attached to possessions, as well as more
‘‘Consumer Reports’’-type of comments, can
be found at http://epinions.com (recently
bought by e-bay).
Pricing/Bargain
Hunting
Extreme cherry-pickers are enabled by http://
ebates.com (where multiple rebates can be
found and ‘‘stacked’’) or http://fatwallet.com
(where consumers can share their finds on
message boards).
Medical Topics Henry L. Niman became a blog ‘‘star’’ in
the bird flu community by posting at his
company’s website (http://curevents.com) and
at numerous other sites. As stated by Zamiska
(2006, p. B1), ‘‘in the World Wide Web of bird
flu addicts, Dr. Niman is famous.’’
Professions Until ousted, former prosecutor David Lat
secretly focused on judges and lawyers (http://
underneaththeirrobes.blog.com). Landro
(2005) lists blogs written by doctors or nurses
to create dialogue within that profession.
Politics Political blogs like http://dailykos.com or
http://michellemalkin.com have become
famous not only for the postings and links but
also because of reader comments (and
arguments) from large reader bases built over
time.
‘‘Flaming’’ a
New Product
Sony’s decision to withdraw copy-protected
CDs was the result of weeks of ‘‘flaming’’ by
bloggers about the spyware and other features
(as well as about unethical corporate
behavior), followed by the mainstream
media’s reporting on both the product and the
bloggers’ reactions (Scott, 2006).
E-rumors/
Company
Reputation
The site http://truthorfiction.com (2006)
declared that the rumor that ‘‘Starbucks
refused to send donated coffee to marines in
Iraq and said the Company does not support
the war’’ is ‘‘fiction.’’
68 J PROD INNOV MANAG
2010;27:66–82
C. DROGE ET AL.
and on ‘‘desserts’’). Finally, the blogosphere is search-
able, allowing readers to find communities of poten-
tial interest (Patrick, 2007; Vascellaro, 2006).
The Influence of Blogs: The NPD and
Marketing Viewpoint
The Overall Impact of the Blogosphere
On the societal level, the influence of blogs can be an-
alyzed within the context of the Internet’s overall im-
pact. In general, blogs and their communities can affect
the entire communications process and create new
channels of communication. The traditional two-step
flow model of communication posits that ideas flow
through one or more gatekeepers; for example, ideas
flow through the media and hence to consumers or
from drug companies to medical personnel to consum-
ers. Blogs bypass the filters of traditional sources (e.g.,
newspapers, magazines, broadcasts; Scott, 2006), creat-
ing a new direct channel for information both within
the blog’s community and across linked blogs. Bloggers
don’t need the ‘‘old’’ media or other gatekeepers to get
the word out. Furthermore, local and other media can
easily pick up the ‘‘hot’’ blog story, thereby bypassing
other traditional news-gathering organizations (John-
son, 2006). Because the Internet potentially provides an
international audience, even a single advocate or com-
plainer can have a major impact through a blog.
Several writers have noted the overall impact of
blogging. Reynolds (2006), a blogger himself, claims
that the balance of power is shifting from big to small
organizations (encouraging entrepreneurship), that
economies of scale and scope are becoming less impor-
tant, and that information channels are changing. A
Pew survey of technology experts and scholars (associ-
ated with the Pew Internet & American Life Project,
[http://www.pewinternet.org]; see Fox, Anderson, and
Rainie, 2005) identified (1) improved search technology,
peer-to-peer nets, and blogs as having great impact in
the future; and (2) the news/publishing and education
industries being the most affected in the next 10 years.
Lashinsky (2006), writing about the ‘‘new’’ Internet in-
vesting boom in the cover story of Fortune, identifies the
blogosphere and other ‘‘community creators’’ as key
aspects of the boom (see also Glover, 2006; Reynolds).
The Impact of Blogs on NPD and Marketers
Blogs have several key implications for marketers and
NPD managers in particular because they are Inter-
net-based, networked communities. A blog and its
community can be viewed as a type of market segment
determined by ‘‘community’’ and not by more tradi-
tional bases such as demographics. If the blog com-
munity is large enough, it may become worthwhile to
target them, for example by advertising on that blog.
Sometimes the community is not ‘‘large’’ in any ab-
solute sense but does tap nearly all important decision
makers, opinion leaders, trendsetters, or lead users,
making that blog community’s impact disproportion-
ately large relative to its actual size (Johnson, 2006).
Some bloggers form a very important new elite
(Reynolds, 2006), an elite that can quickly and effec-
tively position the product, service, or idea for the
blog’s community or even for an international audi-
ence. This is an elite that marketers cannot ignore;
instead, marketers should make every effort to create
relationship equity (Sawhney and Zabin, 2002). Mar-
keters and NPD managers have traditionally tried to
woo such elites by first identifying them and then de-
voting extra attention to them by inviting them to
company functions or by loaning or supplying them
with prototypes or products for free or on attractive
terms. For example, there are many blogs that focus
on new technology issues and new products in gen-
eral, but only a few bloggers are credible experts with
a broad readership (see Gomes, 2005; Reynolds,
2006). This new tech elite is wooed and lobbied: Ob-
taining positive postings or links from a blogger can
‘‘deliver’’ that blogger’s community (just like the im-
portant reporters from important tech print maga-
zines can ‘‘deliver’’ their audiences). The goal could
also be to join the community by either writing a blog
or posting comments to an existing blog. An example
of an elite tech blog covering NPD and all kinds of
tech issues is Memorandum.com (http://tech.memo
randum.com), a blog-tracking blog run by Gabe Ri-
vera, a former programmer at Intel. The 12,000 peo-
ple who read this blog every day may include most
important segments of decision makers, according to
Gomes (2005; see also Wall Street Journal Beat Re-
porters, 2005). Another example of an elite tech blog
is Nationwide Blog Search (http://blogniscient.com).
A blog and its community can also be viewed as a
subculture or reference group. In general, reference
groups can exert at least three different kinds of in-
fluence (see Bearden and Etzel, 1982; Peter and Olson,
2005): through the information they possess and their
gatekeeper role; through rewards and punishments
they control; and through the expression of meanings
and values. Corresponding examples of these three
NEW PRODUCT BLOGS: LEAD USERS ON THE WEB J PROD INNOV MANAG
2010;27:66–82
69
types of influence in the blogosphere are (1) Solstice
Forum (http://solsticeforum.com), which has all in-
formation about the new Pontiac Solstice convertible;
(2) Sony withdrawing its new copy-protected CDs af-
ter weeks of ‘‘flaming’’ by bloggers (Scott, 2006), il-
lustrating a blogger network’s ability to punish; and
(3) a reader being banned from posting comments, il-
lustrating the blogger’s power both to punish that
reader and to control reference group cohesion in
meanings and values.
Blogs can be analyzed from the word-of-mouth
(WOM) communications point of view. Blogs can be
viewed as a new WOM channel, and the blogger can
potentially have the key WOM-associated attributes of
believability, credibility, likeability, and trustworthi-
ness. Also, some bloggers are perceived as having ex-
pertise. Clearly, blogging can allow WOM campaigns
to become very visible, very quickly because partici-
pants form a tightly knit reference group focused on
one issue and use the blog to communicate with one
another. Marketers have long tried to encourage pos-
itive WOM, to discourage negative WOM, and to
monitor both.
Marketers have also long known that a very few
vocal individuals can often represent much larger
‘‘silent’’ audiences and that the dissatisfied are more
likely to complain by WOM than the satisfied
are likely to spread positive WOM. The choice for
the dissatisfied is no longer just complaining to the
firm, complaining to friends and relatives (traditional
WOM), or switching/exiting quietly (the three core
choices first proposed by Hirschman, 1970; see Oliver
1997, chs. 13, 14). A single blogging complainer can
bring together other dissatisfied consumers as readers/
commentators, many of whom would not have initi-
ated anything independently but can now post anon-
ymously in this forum. Once embolden by a sense of
community and a realization of their numbers, these
complainers could use the blog as a vehicle to orga-
nize other actions, such as organizing new product
boycotts or revealing insider information. For exam-
ple, the Peter Rost Blog (http://peterrost.blog
spot.com/), a former Pfizer executive’s blog, has not
only had an influential critiquing function of the
pharma industry but has also become the vehicle for
whistle-blowers (Simon, 2007).
Blogs can also be analyzed from another commu-
nications point of view: that is, their advertising or
promotional functions. A blog can become an impor-
tant part of the firm’s formal advertising or public re-
lations campaign if the firm sets up product blogs,
company blogs, or employee blogs sanctioned by the
company. An example is Jonathan’s Blog, http://
blogs.sun.com/jonathan, which is the blog of Jona-
than Schwartz of Sun Microsystems (see also the in-
terview in Ryan, 2006). Such blogs can be ‘‘a more
personal and informal way for companies to get their
message out- and tout their products’’ (Bulkeley,
2006, p. R7). Aside from marketing the company
and its existing and new products, these blogs can re-
spond to critics and address controversies; connect to
customers, partners, or suppliers; humanize large
firms or raise the visibility of small firms; point out
disadvantages of competitors’ products or services
while emphasizing the advantages of the firm’s prod-
ucts and services; and perform many other adver-
tising/public relations (PR) functions (see ibid.). How-
ever, as in all advertising/PR campaigns, credibility
can be destroyed by perceived partisanship as well as
by confusing and contradictory messages within a
blog or across several blogs originating in the same
firm. In addition, fake blogs (firms masquerading as
independent bloggers) can infuriate readers, as Sony’s
outing revealed (Enright, 2007). Some firms also fear
that corporate secrets will be made public (perhaps
even inadvertently) or that corporate plans about
NPD and other things will be revealed prematurely.
Firms can of course forgo setting up company blogs
and simply buy advertising space on some popular
independent blogs (but the content of independent
blogs cannot be controlled).
A blog and its reader comments can be viewed as a
kind of straw poll. The bloggers’ and readers’ com-
ments can create significant ‘‘buzz,’’ both negative
and positive: Some blogs have hundreds of readers’
comments, not all of them useful of course. Blogs may
have to be monitored or scanned just like any other
medium (e.g., companies have long employed clipping
services to scan print media; see Patrick, 2007). It may
be necessary to guard reputations by tracking and at-
tempting to manage blog viewpoints (e.g., by posting
comments). Finally, the straw poll function may have
additional value for NPD managers. For example,
focus groups or in-depth interviews of experts or lead
users have long been suggested for the purpose of
collecting data related to ideas, prototypes, or new
products (e.g., Mohr, 2001; Thomke, 2007, Module
2). The question is whether a tech blogging commu-
nity focusing on the same idea or product would have
equally valuable information to contribute, and the
exploratory study described herein attempts to pro-
vide an answer to this question. It is possible that a
70 J PROD INNOV MANAG
2010;27:66–82
C. DROGE ET AL.
blogger proposing a new idea could generate re-
sponses from a number of readers, for example.
A blog may tap most of the key sample desired in a
data-collecting endeavor, perhaps even providing in-
formation that a focus group cannot because the
blog’s Internet-based coverage is faster as well as
both broader geographically and narrower in topic
focus. For example, of the 12,000 people who read
Memorandum.com every day, Gomes (2005, p. B1)
states that this ‘‘is big enough to include the entire
universe of decision-makers, thought leaders, first
movers and all relevant wannabes and hangers on.’’
New Technology Product Blogs: An
Exploratory Study
New Technology Product Markets and NPD: A
Review of Key Features
This section briefly reviews key features of new tech-
nology product markets and the new product develop-
ment process. In general, new technology product
markets are characterized by (1) technological hetero-
geneity, or multiple, often incompatible standards or
designs (Garud and Kumaraswamy, 1995; Sanchez and
Mahoney, 1996); and (2) technological discontinuity,or
competence-destroying discontinuities due to rapid and
all-encompassing technological change (Tushman and
Anderson, 1986; Weiss and Heide, 1993). Aside from
the risk inherent in NPD, these two features further
increase risk for NPD managers and their firms as well
as for their customers (see also Chesbrough and Teece,
1996; Rigby and Zook, 2002).
The NPD process and managing these risks are
often conceptualized within a Stage-Gate
s
model
(Cooper, 1990; Cooper, Edgett, and Kleinschmidt,
2002a, 2002b). Basically, multiple stages (variations
exist as to the exact number) are separated by gates or
decision points (the gates represent ‘‘Go/Kill’’ deci-
sions). A typical full Stage-Gate
s
model consists of
six or more stages, but the discussion in this research
focuses on two basic, clearly differentiated phases: (1)
idea generation/product development (precommer-
cialization stage); and (2) commercialization stage.
The most salient method of pursuing idea genera-
tion/development outside of the firm is tapping the
lead user (for reviews of lead user research see Lu
¨thje
and Herstatt, 2004; von Hippel, 2005). Lead users can
be a tremendous source of novel ideas and of novel
ways to realize or implement ideas, sometimes even
creating physical prototypes (see, e.g., Lilien et al.,
2002). In applications ranging from industrial com-
puter-aided design (CAD) software (Urban and von
Hippel, 1988) to consumer products like kite surfing
(Tietz et al., 2005), several studies have shown that
lead user innovations tend to be commercially attrac-
tive and viable (Thomke 2007, pp. 232, 383–94).
Gruner and Homburg (2000) found that customer in-
teraction in general at the idea generation phase was
related to NPD success, although interacting with
lead user customers was even more beneficial. During
the commercialization stage, lead users are equally
important because they are the first to buy the new
product, preceding most early adopters. It is possible
that lead users tested prototypes before full commer-
cialization. Lead users often serve during the com-
mercialization process as a reference group for early
adopters, who themselves become important segments
and are reference groups for later adopters.
Other sources of input include, for example, sup-
pliers (Monczka et al., 2000), consulting engineering
firms (Alam, 2003), and Web-based idea generation
consultants (e.g., Decision Analyst (http://decisionan
alyst.com) allows firms to tap creative customers out-
side their existing networks).
New Technology Product Markets: Illustrative
Case Studies of Blog Postings
To illustrate the potential usefulness of blogs in an
NPD context, three exploratory case studies were
conducted by mapping blog postings (mapped as
hexagons) and the associated strings of reader com-
ments. The maps are in Figure 1 (Miller, 2006a), Fig-
ure 2 (Miller, 2006b), and Figure 3 (Perton, 2006).
Reader comments generally take one of two forms:
comments directed at information in the original blog
posting or comments directed at other readers’ com-
ments (which often creates a ‘‘conversation’’ between
two or more readers). In the maps, reader comments
appear in rectangles and are numbered in the time
order that they appeared. If the reader comment was
in response to the original posting, it was connected
to the original posting; if the comment responds to
another reader, the two readers were connected. All
three cases are from Engadget, and a description of
the content follows the maps displayed in the figures.
The technological heterogeneity and discontinuity
characteristic of new technology product-markets is
evident in these comment streams (especially Figure
NEW PRODUCT BLOGS: LEAD USERS ON THE WEB J PROD INNOV MANAG
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71
2): Dealing with multiple product standards, facing
competence-destroying discontinuities, and fearing
obsolescence clearly affect these commentators/con-
sumers. As a set, these three new product case studies
also illustrate that the original posting and the asso-
ciated reader comments (1) can provide scenarios for
how, when, or by whom the new product will be used;
(2) can state additional information regarding the
product (e.g., benefits in use) or specific attributes;
(3) can offer suggestions for other product features or
other product uses; (4) can have comparisons overall
or attribute-based to competitive products (which can
effectively position the product vis-a
`-vis competitors);
and (5) can have favorable/unfavorable ratings of in-
dustry trends, specific companies, the product, com-
petitive products, and product attributes.
New Technology Product Markets and NPD: An
Exploratory Study of Blogs
To explore the role of blogs in NPD, an initial step is
to examine and classify what such blogs actually
say (and don’t say). A coding system for text was
developed based loosely on the core elements of the
marketing mix: product (e.g., attributes and service
aspects); price (e.g., price comparisons); channel (e.g.,
brick or click), and promotion (e.g., comments on how
the product was being promoted in a particular me-
dium). The original categorization scheme was devel-
oped and tested using 12 postings (which were selected
to ensure new product content).
Two coders then coded a sample of 70 postings
(sample is described next); a third coder resolved any
1
FTA
Engadget
Swissbit
2
Price
Question
3
Positive
Comment
4
FTA
Guidelines
5
FTA
Comment
6
FTA
Comment
11
Dubious
Integration
Benefit
12
Agreement
13
Agreement
18
Agreement
21
Disagree
20
Agreement
7
Obsolete
Comment
10
Obsolete
Disagree
15
Flash Drive
Comment
14
Swiss Army
Knife
Comment
Figure 1. Swissbit (Posted 1-24-06 on Engadget)
Original posting 1-24-06, 2:35 pm; final reader comment #21 posted 1-25-06,1:49 pm. ‘‘Swissbit Bumps Their Knives to 2GB’’
(Miller, 2006a) describes a newly released Swiss army knife with a 2 GB flash drive. The initial posting describes the basic
features and mentions that the flash drive is removable, which may come in handy when boarding an aircraft due to TSA
restrictions on knives. Early on, the reader comments fixate on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) restrictions
and personal experiences boarding aircraft (comments #1, 4, 5, 6 in map). Once this initial line subsides, two others emerge.
The larger discussion concerns benefits of integrating the Swiss army knife with the flash drive. While most readers do not believe
there are integration benefits (#11, 12, 13, 18, 20), the final one disagrees and presents a compelling argument for integration
(posted 1-25-06, 1:49 pm; #21). A small discussion begins when a reader (#7) posits that the knife will soon be obsolete, but
this argument is quickly and forcefully rebutted (#10). Several other miscellaneous comments do not draw conversation (#2, 3,
14, 15).
72 J PROD INNOV MANAG
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C. DROGE ET AL.
discrepancies. A particular posting could have many
zero entries, but no categories were dropped because at
this exploratory stage, it is important to know what is
not and what is posted. For example, none of the 12 test
postings had any comments about promotion, but this
category was not dropped when the 70 sample postings
were analyzed. Postings could also have multiple com-
ments within categories. For example, a particular post-
ing may comment on performance as well as ease of
use: This was coded accordingly. However, for the total
number of postings categorized as containing product
content, the posting would be coded once as containing
product information and product-based judgment.
Method
Sampling
There are numerous technology blogs on the Internet,
and they discuss a wide range of topics, including
software patches, new products, and corporate strat-
egy. Interest lies in blogs that are in some sense ‘‘in-
fluential,’’ ignoring those with few readers, and
avoiding the blogs that are too specialized or don’t
focus on products. The influence that a blog site has is
usually assumed proportional to ‘‘popularity,’’ but
there is no official publication containing widely ac-
cepted ratings/rankings. Different methods of mea-
suring site popularity are found on Bloglines (http://
bloglines.com), The Truth Laid Bear (http://truthlaid
bear.com), and The Weblog Awards (http://weblog
awards.org; Wizbang, 2005). Bloglines allows custom-
ers to subscribe to various blog sites and then tracks
the total number of subscribers to each; The Truth
Laid Bear ranks blog sites by calculating a link score,
which is a function of how many other sites are linked
to the focal blog site; The Weblog Awards rankings
are created from votes by users and reflect the blog’s
general popularity as perceived by those motivated
enough to vote. Table 2 compares the rankings from
1
No CF
Support
Engadget
ExpressCard
2
No Mac
Support
3
Agree
14
Plea for
Standard
Format
15
Format
Preference
Debate
16
Counter
Argument
17
Agreement
18
Agreement
6
Drop some
Formats
8
Inevitable
Transition
Pains
5
Agree
4
No Firewire
9
Agree
10
Agree.
Abandons
Photogs
11
Disagree.
Abandons
no one
12
Counter
argument
13
Counter
argument
Figure 2. ExpressCard (Posted 1-11-06 on Engadget)
Original posting 1-11-06, 8:00 am; final reader comment #18 posted 1-12-06, 10:15 pm. ‘‘Y-E DATA Announces ExpressCard/
34 Media Reader’’ (Miller, 2006b) covers the launch of a ‘‘5 in 1’’ card reader, which will read different forms of digital memory
devices (such as those used in digital cameras). The original posting angers some readers by mentioning that the new MacBook
Pro included a slot for an ExpressCard/34, which may leave users of the ExpressCard/54 technologies stranded to some degree.
The readers’ comments diverge into two main directions. The first is whether Apple’s decision to go with the 34 format is
detrimental and truly strands users (#2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18). Most readers reacted negatively: others (#8, 11) believe that
this is an inevitable shift in technology standards and that there are ways users can work through problems with a minimum of
expense and hassle. The other debate stems around the merits of the various standards of memory cards (e.g., compactflash, SD).
Readers #14–17 debate this with no real conclusion.
NEW PRODUCT BLOGS: LEAD USERS ON THE WEB J PROD INNOV MANAG
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73
these sites. While the three ranking systems do not
provide consistent rankings for all technology blog
sites, it is noteworthy that Slashdot (http://slash
dot.com), Engadget, and Gizmodo were consistently
ranked as the top three technology blogs (regardless
of ranking method).
Further investigation of the technology blog sites
revealed that Slashdot, Techdirt (http://techdirt.com),
and kuro5hin.com (http://kuro5hin.com) focused on
discussions of corporate strategy and contained very
little new product information; they were thus disre-
garded (but note that strategy may have implications
for NPD). Engadget and Gizmodo were chosen due to
their consistently high ratings, popularity, and focus
on new product information. Engadget was also rec-
ommended by the technology writer at the Wall Street
1
Negative
Comment
Engadget
Greenhouse
3
Comment on
competitive
offerings
6
Suggestion
for
FM Tuner
2
Negative
Comment
on Sound
Quality
13
Negative
Comment
on Sound
Quality
4
Positive
comment
on Sound
Quality
8
Refutes
Comment
by 4
9
Agreement
11
Marketing
company
15
Positive
product
comment
10
Negative
comment
on Sound
Quality
12
Marketing
company
16
Positive
product
comment
17
Negative
Comment
on Sound
Quality
7
Comment on
competitive
offerings
18
Comment on
competitive
offerings
5
Comment on
competitive
offerings
Figure 3. Greenhouse (Posted 1-25-06 on Engadget)
Original posting 1-25-06 at 9:00 am; final reader comment #18 posted 1-25-06 at 6:50 pm. ‘‘Keepin’ It Real Fake, Part XVI:
Greenhouse’s Bose-Like GH-SPA-430 Dock’’ (Perton, 2006) reviews the Greenhouse iPod docking system. The initial posting
points out that the system has ‘‘uncanny resemblance’’ to the Bose SoundDock. That sparks commentary regarding the Bose
product instead of the ‘‘knock-off’’ speaker system from Greenhouse. Comments encompass sound quality, product feature set,
suggestion for product improvement, and competitive systems. Reader #1 initiates a debate about sound quality that is followed
by three more comments comparing the Greenhouse with Bose sound quality. The readers treat the Greenhouse system as a
surrogate for Bose and disparage the sound quality of Bose. Reader #4’s positive comments about Bose sound quality are refuted
by readers #8 and 10. Readers #11 and 12 claim that Bose’s perceived sound quality is more of a function of the company’s
marketing expertise than its product capability. Reader #6 suggests that speaker systems in general should add FM tuners.
Readers #3, 5, 7, and 18 suggest that the competitor’s product is superior, while readers #15 and 16 comment that the speaker
system is adequate for its intended purpose.
Table 2. Ratings/Rankings of Technology Blogs’ Popularity
Blog Site
bloglines.com: # of subscribers
as of 2/12/06
truthlaidbear.com: Ecosystem
Rank as of 2/12/06
weblogawards.org: Technology
sites 2005 Rankings
http://Slashdot.com 60,252 32 2
http://Engadget.com 36,592 67 1
http://Gizmodo.com 29,127 108 3
http://Techdirt.com 20,777 707 NA
http://Extremetech.com 17,410 NA NA
http://Cool Tools 16,007 2125 NA
http://Kuro5hin.org 11,594 990 NA
http://Tuaw.com 2,498 1930 NA
http://Joystiq.com 1,531 NA 6
http://TechEblog.com 30 NA NA
Om Malik on Broadband NA 565 NA
74 J PROD INNOV MANAG
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C. DROGE ET AL.
Journal (Mossberg, 2005) and in Time Magazine as
one of the top five blogs of any kind (Caplan, 2005).
Gizmodo was one of the ‘‘blogs you should know’’
in Gardner (2005). However, numerous less popular
sites also focus on new product information. To de-
termine if a difference exists between the two most
popular sites (Engadget and Gizmodo) and lesser-
known blog sites, the sample composition included 10
instances from less popular sites. These lesser-known
sites were selected from postings in The Truth Laid
Bear and Nationwide Blog Search.
The blog postings selected for the study had their
original posting in January or February 2006 (avoid-
ing a possibly atypical holiday season). However,
postings selected were at least two weeks old to allow
for reader comments to accumulate (the adequacy of
the time window is tested herein). Postings were ran-
domly selected with replacement; only postings with a
new product focus were retained. The final sample
consisted of 70 postings: The target sample sizes were
30 postings each from Engadget and Gizmodo and 10
postings from other sites.
Adequacy of the Two-Week Window
The analysis of the timing of reader comments re-
vealed the following. Comments accumulate quickly
and then decline in number: 83% of comments were
posted within the first day after the initial posting;
89% of the comments were posted within three days;
and 90% of all comments were posted within the first
week. Figure 4 shows the elapsed time (in hours, from
the initial blog posting) as a cumulative percentage of
all comments. These results suggest that (1) for the
purpose of this research, two weeks was ample time to
capture the bulk of reader comments; and (2) for
NPD managers wishing to capture the essence of this
straw poll, about three days’ worth of readers’ com-
ments appear adequate.
The average number of reader comments attached
to the 70 postings in the sample was 11.56. In the re-
sults section that analyzes these 70 postings, the num-
ber of reader comments was viewed as an ‘‘attribute’’
of the original posting.
Results: Analysis of Blog Postings
Brand/Company Name
Most blog postings specified either the product’s spe-
cific brand name (94.29%) or the family brand or
company’s name (91.43%); 61 (87.14%) mentioned
both. One blog posting mentioned neither; it focused
on a particular prototype, for which the developing
company was not identified. This particular posting
illustrates that blog postings and reader comments
may be of some use in precommercialization.
Product
The bulk of the content was categorized into the ‘‘prod-
uct’’ category (see Table 3): 67 of the 70 (95.71%) post-
ings contained some product information or product
based judgment. The postings focused on the products’
feature sets, with 61 or 87.14% mentioning features.
The next most common content was ‘‘overall judgments
or evaluation of product,’’ with 52.86% containing
some sort of subjective overall product judgment: the
number of positive overall evaluations (25) was about
twice the number of negative evaluations (12).
Next most common were postings about perfor-
mance of the product (mentioned by 20 of 70 blogs,
or 28.57%). The majority provided a positive evalua-
tion (13 of 20), whereas there were five negative eval-
uations (without referring to competing products). Five
made competitive comparisons regarding performance.
Less common were mentions of compatibility
(27.14%), ease of use (20%) and style (17.14%). It is
possible that performance and ease of use were not
mentioned more frequently because the bloggers were
generally discussing either newly released products or
products not yet widely launched and therefore had not
had the opportunity to use the products for an extended
period of time. It is also noteworthy that there was only
one mention of warranty in the blog postings examined.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 1020304050607080
Time (hours)
Cumulative Percentage
Figure 4. Time of Reader Comments (Initial Reader Comment at
Time 51)
NEW PRODUCT BLOGS: LEAD USERS ON THE WEB J PROD INNOV MANAG
2010;27:66–82
75
Table 3. Product Information in Technology Blogs
a
Gizmodo
n530 Percent
Engadget
n530 Percent
Others
n510 Percent
Total
n570 Percent
Feature Set Mentions features 25 83.33 27 90.00 9 90.00 61 87.14
Performance Positive evaluation 6 20.00 6 20.00 1 10.00 13 18.57
Negative evaluation 2 6.67 2 6.67 1 10.00 5 7.14
Neutral evaluation 1 3.33 0 0.00 0 0.00 1 1.43
Favorable competitive comparison 2 6.67 2 6.67 0 0.00
4 5.71
Unfavorable competitive comparison 0 0.00 1 3.33 0 0.00 1 1.43
Ease of Use Positive evaluation 8 26.67
2 6.67
1 10.00 11 15.71
Negative evaluation 1 3.33 2 6.67 0 0.00
3 4.29
Favorable competitive comparison 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00
Unfavorable competitive comparison 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00
Style Positive evaluation 3 10.00 1 3.33
3 30.00 7 10.00
Negative evaluation 1 3.33 2 6.67 2 20.00 5 7.14
Overall Judgment Positive evaluation 10 33.33 11 36.67 4 40.00 25 35.71
Negative evaluation 5 16.67 5 16.67 2 20.00 12 17.14
Favorable competitive comparison 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00
Unfavorable competitive comparison 0 0.00 1 3.33 1 10.00 2 2.86
Neutral competitive comparison 0 0.00 1 3.33 0 0.00 1 1.43
Compatibility Positive 5 16.67 5 16.67 4 40.00 14 20.00
Negative 1 3.33 3 10.00 1 10.00 5 7.14
Warranty Mention of Warranty 0 0.00 0 0.00 1 10.00 1 1.43
a
Percentages represent number of blog mentions, relative to the total number of blogs for that site. For example, 83.33% indicates that 25 of 30 Gizmodo blogs mentioned the feature set. p-values
determined using test of equality of proportions (two-tailed).
po.10.
po.05.
76 J PROD INNOV MANAG
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C. DROGE ET AL.
In general, positive evaluations outnumbered the
negative evaluations by a two to one margin, with the
exception of style (where only 7 of the 12 evaluations
were favorable). It is of course possible that bloggers
on these leading technology blogs may be hesitant to
state negative evaluations (e.g., the product is difficult
to use or incompatible with other products) for the
same reasons that tech magazine writers hesitate: for
fear of not being perceived as an expert or for fear
of no longer receiving special benefits from firms.
As shown in the results of the tests of equality of
proportions (Table 3), there are some significant dif-
ferences in how often Gizmodo and Engadget com-
mented positively on ease of use, with Gizmodo doing
so in nearly 27% of blogs examined and Engadget
doing in less than 7% of blogs examined.
A construct was created whose value depended on
whether the overall evaluation in the original posting
was positive (n525), neutral (n533), or negative
(n512; for a total of 70), as well as a construct rep-
resenting total coded content in all categories repre-
sented in all tables (excluding overall evaluation).
Respective mean numbers of all coded statements
across categories (excluding overall evaluation) were
not significantly different at 4.96, 5.06, and 4.67 for
positive/neutral/negative overall evaluations. This
shows that the number of other things said by that
blogger in that posting did not depend on the overall
evaluation. For example, negative overall evaluations
(compared with positive or neutral overall evalua-
tions) were not supported or justified by more com-
ments about attributes, price, or channel.
Finally, the relationship between the number of
reader comments and the nature of the overall eval-
uation in the original posting (positive/neutral/nega-
tive) was examined. Respective mean numbers of
reader comments were 14.00, 10.78, and 8.91, and
analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis showed no
difference (p5.482). Total coded content in all cate-
gories represented in all tables (excluding overall eval-
uation) was, however, correlated with the number
of reader comments attached to the postings: the cor-
relation was 0.266 (p5.026). This means that the
more the blogger said in terms of the details, the less
readers commented.
Price
Of the 70 blog postings examined, 34 (or 48.57%)
contained some sort of pricing information, commen-
tary, or competitive comparison (Table 4). The retail
price was mentioned 29 times, though the results of
the test of equality of proportions (Table 4) show that
particular blogs have stronger tendencies to report
price than others. There were 10 comments on the
appropriateness of price without comparison to a
competitor, while 2 comments compared the price to
a competitor’s. It was also examined whether the ex-
istence of price statements of any kind was indepen-
dent of whether the overall evaluation in the original
posting was positive, neutral, or negative: Indepen-
dence was supported (p5.897 from chi-square tests).
This means, for example, that a negative overall eval-
uation, compared with a positive evaluation, was
equally likely to be justified by a price statement.
However, postings with an overall positive evaluation
were more likely to also have favorable price state-
ments (p5.049), and postings with an overall negative
evaluation were more likely to also have unfavorable
price statements (po.001).
Finally, it was determined whether the number of
reader comments depended on whether the price was
mentioned. The mean numbers of reader comments
were not significantly different (p 50.155) when price
was mentioned (9.71) versus not mentioned (13.20).
Channel
Of the 70 blog postings examined, 34 or 48.57% con-
tained some information pertaining to the product’s
channel. As shown in Table 5, product launch date
was most commonly mentioned (20.00%), followed
by links to the manufacturer (14.28%) and links to
online stores (10.00%). In addition, there were four
positive comments (5.71%) and five negative com-
ments (7.14%) in regard to general retail availability.
Engadget contains significantly less of this type of
content than the other blogs observed. Only 10 of the
30 (33.33%) Engadget postings examined had channel
comments, while 17 of 30 (56.67%) Gizmodo postings
and 7 of the 10 ‘‘other’’ blog postings (70%) con-
tained channel content. The test of equality of pro-
portions (Table 5) indicates that Engadget contains
fewer links to both online stores and manufacturers,
two of the three most common channel content men-
tioned. It was also determined whether the existence
of links to stores or manufacturers was independent of
whether the overall evaluation was positive, neutral,
or negative: p5.217 from chi-square tests supported
independence. This means, for example, that a nega-
NEW PRODUCT BLOGS: LEAD USERS ON THE WEB J PROD INNOV MANAG
2010;27:66–82
77
Table 4. Price Information in Technology Blogs
a
Gizmodo
n530 Percent
Engadget
n530 Percent
Others
n510 Percent
Total
n570 Percent
Price Mentions Retail Price 15 50.00 7 23.33
7 70.00
29 41.43
Commentary on Price High 2 6.67 3 10.00 1 10.00 6 8.57
Appropriate 0 0.00 1 3.33 0 0.00 1 1.43
Low 2 6.67 1 3.33 0 0.00
3 4.29
Comparison to Competitor’s Price Favorable 1 3.33 0 0.00 0 0.00 1 1.43
Unfavorable 0 0.00 1 3.33 0 0.00 1 1.43
a
Percentages represent number of blog mentions, relative to the total number of blogs for that site. For example, 50% indicates that 15 of 30 Gizmodo blogs mentioned the retail price. p-values
determined using test of equality of proportions (two-tailed).
po.10.
po.05.
po.01.
Table 5. Channel Information in Technology Blogs
a
Gizmodo
n530 Percent
Engadget
n530 Percent
Others
n510 Percent
Total
n570 Percent
Comment on General Availability Positive 1 3.33 2 6.67 1 10.00 4 5.71
Negative 1 3.33 3 10.00 1 10.00 5 7.14
Specific Retailer Availability 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00
Unavailability 1 3.33 0 0.00 0 0.00 1 1.43
Links to . . . . Online Store 3 10.00 0 0.00
4 40.00
7 10.00
Manufacturer 6 20.00 1 3.33
3 30.00 10 14.29
Product Launch Mention of Date 8 26.67 4 13.33 2 20.00 14 20.00
Comparison with competitors’ date 1 3.33 3 10.00 0 0.00
4 5.71
a
Percentages represent number of blog mentions relative to total number of blogs for that site. For example, 3.33% indicates that 1 of 30 Gizmodo blogs comment positively on general availability.
p-values determined using test of equality of proportions (two-tailed).
po.05.
po.01.
78 J PROD INNOV MANAG
2010;27:66–82
C. DROGE ET AL.
tive overall evaluation does not suppress channel links
information.
Finally, it was determined whether the number of
reader comments depended on (1) whether links to
retailers or manufacturers were given, and (2) whether
availability was mentioned at all. First, mean num-
bers of reader comments when links were given (8.22)
versus not (12.09) were not significantly different
(p5.280). Second, a summary binary measure of
‘‘availability’’ statements was created, coded as
‘‘yes’’ if either there was a positive comment on avail-
ability or a launch date was specified or links were
given to retailers or manufacturers. Reader comments
when availability was mentioned (8.23) were less nu-
merous than when availability was not mentioned
(13.73; p5.017). Availability statement (yes/no) and
overall evaluation (positive, neutral, negative) were
independent (p5.263 from chi-square tests).
Promotion
There were no mentions of advertisements, promo-
tions, sponsorships, or any other promotional tools or
programs (however, recall that Web links to the man-
ufacturer and stores were categorized under ‘‘retail
channel’’ and not as a way of promoting availability).
Discussion and Implications for NPD
Managers
A blog—comprising an Internet address and one or
more of postings, links, and readers’ comments—
spontaneously forms an Internet-based, networked
community that gels around a theme or idea, prod-
uct, industry, activity, hobby, or any other subject.
Because they reside on the Internet, blogs have the
characteristics of ubiquity, universality, uniqueness,
and unison (Watson et al., 2002). The only questions
are whether and how marketers in general, and new
product managers in particular, should be present in
this forum.
An exploratory study on new technology blogs was
conducted, with new technology product postings
sampled (especially from Engadget and Gizmodo).
The first lesson for NPD managers is that some blogs
are much more influential than others and, thus, that
selectivity in terms of the blogs chosen for scrutiny (or
possibly participation) is necessary. But selection cri-
teria can be difficult to specify: There is no standard
way to measure blog ‘‘popularity,’’ even after blogs
have been sorted by topic of interest or by target mar-
ket. The reason for the focus on new technology blogs
was to analyze their utility for NPD managers. Cus-
tomer input into the NPD process has long been ad-
vocated, especially from lead users and early adopters.
The analysis began with case studies of postings
and their reader comment streams; three cases were
mapped. The results showed first that NPD managers
can observe the community by focusing on the orig-
inal posting and about three days’ worth of readers’
comments (i.e., this is the straw poll function). Sec-
ond, the postings plus the reader comments illustrated
information that NPD managers might find useful:
The content provided scenarios for how or when
the product will be used, stated product information
(e.g., benefits, features, comparisons to competitive
products), and had favorable/unfavorable ratings
of trends, companies, products, and so on. The blog
had the potential to position the product. Third, it
was also clear that characteristics of high-tech pro-
duct markets—the multiple standards, competence-
destroying discontinuities, and rapid obsolescence—
affected these communities.
Next, an exploratory content analysis of 70 post-
ings was conducted. It showed that almost all men-
tioned the brand or company name. Since the
blogosphere is searchable (Patrick, 2007; Vascellaro,
2006), an NPD manager should be able to locate blogs
discussing particular products (either the firm’s prod-
ucts or a competitor’s). One blog posting mentioned
neither brand nor company name, focusing on a pro-
totype. This shows that blog postings and reader com-
ments may be of some use precommercialization in
testing new ideas for products or attributes, but the
efficacy of this use—compared, for example, with one-
on-one customer interaction or focus groups—is
unknown and requires further research. The current
primary use of blogs seems to be during early com-
mercialization and later stages.
The bulk of information in the postings examined
was in the ‘‘product’’ category: 95.71% contained
some product information, with 87% mentioning fea-
tures, 52.86% having overall evaluations, 28.57%
having postings about performance, 27.14% men-
tioned compatibility, and, finally, ease of use (20%)
and style (17.14%). It is important for NPD managers
to realize that the product and its attributes are being
discussed and evaluated in a forum that anyone with a
computer can access and that interested parties may
scrutinize. Those who scrutinize the content are very
NEW PRODUCT BLOGS: LEAD USERS ON THE WEB J PROD INNOV MANAG
2010;27:66–82
79
likely to be members of the target market. The blog-
gers’ and readers’ comments are implicitly defining
the product to the audience by emphasizing some as-
pects and deemphasizing or ignoring others; ‘‘key fea-
tures’’ as determined by the NPD manager may not be
discussed at all or may be misunderstood. E-mailing
the blogger or posting comments as a reader are ways
that NPD managers can proactively promote the
product or its features or correct erroneous state-
ments. NPD managers can also set up their own
blogs, ensuring control of content.
In this study, the number of positive overall eval-
uations was about twice the number of negative eval-
uations on average. While NPD managers might be
pleased with the positive evaluations—a form of free
publicity—the significant number of negative evalua-
tions is cause for concern. It is possible that the blog-
ger community has identified product flaws or
product features that should be added; NPD manag-
ers can then evaluate whether the product itself should
be ‘‘corrected.’’ The blogger community may have
discovered new uses or new configurations with other
products. Using blogs in this way is an extension of
Chesbrough’s (2003) notion of open innovation, the
first principle of which states, ‘‘Not all the smart peo-
ple work for us . . . . We need to work with smart
people inside and outside our company’’ (p. xxvi).
Knowledge creation and learning with blogging cus-
tomers acknowledges that the blog content is part of
what von Hippel (2005, p. 167) refers to as the ‘‘in-
formation commons.’’ By connecting to blogs, NPD
managers can thus possibly cocreate value with these
communities.
It is also possible that the blogger community
shows confusion or ignorance about specific features
or functions, leading to negative evaluations. NPD
managers can then address relevant points, correct
errors, and prevent further confusion either by post-
ing on that blog, posting on the firm’s blog or website,
or using traditional advertising/promotional tech-
niques. It is important for NPD managers to realize
that blogs can effectively sabotage a new product in-
troduction strategy by independently positioning the
value proposition of the product as inferior in some
way (or as too expensive). At the very least, NPD
managers should be aware of how these communities
are evaluating the new product because they are the
voice of a significant number of current and future
consumers; that is, scanning may be necessary.
The analysis revealed that neither the number of
other statements by the blogger nor the number of
reader comments depended on the overall evaluation.
For example, neither positive nor negative overall
evaluations were supported by more comments about
attributes, price, or channel. However, the bloggers’
total coded content in all categories was negatively
correlated with the number of reader comments. That
is, the more the bloggers gave details, the less the
readers commented. This suggests that relationships
with key bloggers are important to NPD managers: It
may be advantageous to cultivate relationships with
key bloggers (just as NPD managers in high-tech
markets have always cultivated the influential writers
in the leading tech magazines).
About half the blog postings in this study con-
tained some sort of pricing information or commen-
tary. The existence of price statements had no impact
on the number of reader comments. The existence of
price statements was also independent of the overall
evaluation; i.e., positive evaluations were as likely
as negative evaluations to be accompanied by a
price statement. However, postings with an overall
positive product evaluation (/negative evaluation)
were more likely to also have favorable (/unfavor-
able) price statements. This illustrates an implicit
value proposition offered on the part of the blogger;
that is, product evaluation and price evaluation were
closely connected. Since value propositions often
form the kernel of the product’s marketing launch
strategy (e.g., advertising and promotion), it is essen-
tial that NPD managers know what value proposi-
tions are being ‘‘promoted’’ independently by
bloggers on the Web. NPD managers may be able
to influence value perceptions by posting about the
price or about the product and its features.
About half of the postings contained some infor-
mation pertaining to the product’s channel, includ-
ing launch date (20%), links to the manufacturer
(14.28%), and links to online stores (10%). This il-
lustrates that connecting with blogs can be an impor-
tant part of the NPD manager’s overall launch
communication strategy. Both (1) whether links to
stores or manufacturers existed and (2) whether there
was any statement of any kind about availability were
independent of overall evaluation. For example, a
negative overall evaluation did not make a lack of
links more probable, nor did a positive overall eval-
uation make channel links more probable. The num-
ber of reader comments was also unrelated to the
existence of such links.
There were no mentions of advertisements, promo-
tions, sponsorships, or any other promotional tools or
80 J PROD INNOV MANAG
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C. DROGE ET AL.
programs on these high-tech product blogs. It is un-
clear why this is true; certainly, there are numerous
postings and readers’ comments about advertising on
blogs in general (e.g., there are numerous comments
about the TV ads on the Superbowl). It may be that
the sampled communities are more focused on tech-
nology or on the product than on the promotion
thereof or that their interest in the product precedes
the advertising campaign’s launch. It is also possible
that these bloggers view their own blogger commu-
nity’s dialogue as more authentic or otherwise pref-
erable to company-directed communication and thus
tend to avoid mention of company advertising or pro-
motional efforts.
Conclusion
For NPD managers, the usefulness of blogs can
range from simply tracking a blogger’s community
to advertising on influential blogs. Or NPD managers
can establish relationships with a blog community,
share experiences with this community, and co-create
value with this community—in short, become im-
mersed in the community. People join these commu-
nities informally on a voluntary basis, and if the
manager of a particular product, service, or idea is
not ‘‘present’’ (at least as an observer of this straw
poll), an entire new product marketing agenda can be
set by the community. Implicitly or explicitly, blogs
can position the product in a prime target audience’s
mind, whether such positioning is correct, advanta-
geous, or catastrophic as far as the NPD manager is
concerned.
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