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Matching product development and Asian tastes to improve launch success
Graham Bell
Walter A Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, United States of America
Abstract
Matching taste perceptions and preferences of consumers in Asian markets is poorly understood by food processors and product developers in Western countries who wish to develop trade in consumer food products in Asia. This can lead to a ‘dump or drop’ strategy. If a product already formulated for the exporter's domestic market is not acceptable in the new market, then the project is dropped; if the product is acceptable it is simply ‘dumped’ into the market. However, Asian consumer tastes are ‘fathomable’ and can be studied with rigour and positive pay-offs. In this article two case studies are presented in which drivers of food purchasing behaviour in the Indonesian market are identified. The article is also relevant to product developers in other industries who aim to launch products into new markets in Asia.
"Product developers testing products on Asian ex patriate communities run the risk of tailoring a product for a market which does not correspond with the true target market."
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