describe how marriott might employ lead user analysis course hero

What is a lead user analysis?

Lead user analysis. Lead users are an extremely valuable cluster of customers and potential customers who can contribute to identification of future opportunities and evaluation of emerging concepts. Understanding these users can provide richness of information relatively efficiently.

What are the characteristics of a lead user?

He defined the lead user as those users who display the following two characteristics: They face the needs that will be general in the market place, but face them months or years before the bulk of that marketplace encounters them They are positioned to benefit significantly by obtaining a solution to those needs

Can lead users be part of the extended product design team?

Where possible, if lead users are sufficiently interested, then they can be considered as a part of the extended product design team. They may even be prepared to share the burden of investment in order to find a suitable solution.

Where to look for lead users?

Where possible, lead users should not necessarily be sought from within the usual customer base, it can be useful to look beyond existing customers perhaps to users of complementary or substitute goods or in analogous markets.

Where possible, lead users should not necessarily be sought from within the usual customer base?

Where possible, lead users should not necessarily be sought from within the usual customer base, it can be useful to look beyond existing customers perhaps to users of complementary or substitute goods or in analogous markets. In addition, the lead users may only have an interest in improvements or changes to specific elements or attributes of a product.

What is lead user?

Lead users are an extremely valuable cluster of customers and potential customers who can contribute to identification of future opportunities and evaluation of emerging concepts. Understanding these users can provide richness of information relatively efficiently.

What is the key element in identifying lead users?

Von Hippel suggests that a key element in identifying lead users is to first identify the underlying trends which result in these users or customers having a leading position. The lead users are those who are at the leading edge of these trends.

What happens if lead users do not find appropriate solutions from existing suppliers?

Furthermore, if today's lead users do not find appropriate solutions from existing suppliers, then they could well turn into tomorrow's competitors.

Who invented the lead user?

The concept of 'Lead Users' was introduced by Eric von Hippel in the mid 1980s. He defined the lead user as those users who display the following two characteristics: They face the needs that will be general in the market place, but face them months or years before the bulk of that marketplace encounters them.

Where a company has experience within a market place, should it be relatively straight forward to identify those customers?

Where a company has experience within a market place, it should be relatively straight forward to identify those customers who demand special solutions, push existing solutions to the limit or who have customised standard products to satisfy their own desires.