Title: Exploring two types of customer involvement in product development: a relational view

Authors: Janet L. Hartley; Luxiu Zhang; Man Zhang; Desheng Liu

Addresses: Department of Management, Schmidthorst College of Business, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA ' School of Business Administration, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, 7366 Erhuandong Road, Jinan 250014, Shandong, China ' International Business, Department of Management, Schmidthorst College of Business, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA ' School of Management, Qilu University of Technology, Shang Dong, China

Abstract: This research explores how a supplier's trust (goodwill and integrity) and a long-term orientation affect two types of customer involvement: 1) customer as an information source (CIS); 2) customer as a co-developer (CIC). The relationship between CIS and CIC with new product performance is also examined. Hypotheses were tested using survey data gathered from 155 manufacturing firms in China and were analysed using partial least squares regression. Long-term orientation is positively related to using both CIS and CIC, but trust is only related to using CIS. We expected that the relationships of trust and long-term orientation would be stronger when CIC was used compared to CIS, but this was not supported. Further, CIS, but not CIC, is positively related to product performance. Future research should explore development processes, capabilities, and product characteristics better to understand the use of and outcomes from CIC.

Keywords: trust; long-term orientation; customer involvement; product development; product performance; relational governance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISM.2025.147726

International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, 2025 Vol.18 No.1, pp.27 - 53

Received: 30 Jan 2024
Accepted: 21 Jan 2025
Published online: 28 Jul 2025 *

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