Message and source factors, market uncertainty, and extrafunctional information processing: hypotheses and empirical evidence

This article examines how the perceived quality of extrafunctional information improves the innovation management process and contributes to success with innovations. Data collected from 420 Japanese managers and 270 US managers are used to test hypotheses about the antecedents of satisfaction with extra-functional information and the impacts on new product performance. The results demonstrate that the level of marketing and R&D managers' satisfaction with extrafunctional information is an important predictor of new product success and financial performance. The results also show that marketing and R&D managers differ significantly in their preferences and criteria for evaluating extrafunctional information. The empirical evidence suggests that the factors that increase R&D's satisfaction with market information are not necessarily the same as those that increase marketing's satisfaction with R&D satisfaction. Each functional area should recognize which message factors are most related to high satisfaction with received information, and emphasize these when sending such information. The authors also discovered the moderating effects of market and technical uncertainty that should provide guidance for marketing and R&D managers on how to allocate their efforts in information transfer based on the external environment. The empirical findings also revealed some cross-cultural differences, as well as a few similarities, between US and Japanese respondents.