The Use of Imagination in New Product Idea Development

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K03730
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Commerce
• Research Institution: Tottori University of Environmental Studies
• Principal Investigator: Isono Makoto 公立鳥取環境大学, 経営学部, 教授 (50550050)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 高橋 佳代 鹿児島大学, その他の研究科, 准教授 (90616468)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 新製品開発 / アイデア / 創造性 / ビジョニング / バックキャスティング / 想像

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Visioning is an approach that attracts attention today as an effective way to bring about innovation. It is about imagining a future context and developing product ideas based on the set context. This study attempted to explain how visioning, or imagining a future context as a vision, leads to product ideas, based on the insights regarding imagination discussed in the creative cognition studies.
Findings from an experiment and a multiple case study suggest that: The effects of visioning on the innovativeness of ideas depend on: (1) the extent a manager focuses an end goal or an ideal state in imagining a vision or a future context, (2) the extent he/she imagines the detail of the context, (3) the extent he/she refers to insights from market/technology researches rather than just relying on his/her own aspiration or belief in imagining a vision or a future context.

Free Research Field

新製品開発