When does customer participation influence new product performance? The role of ambiguity and strategic collaboration

Although some literature suggests that customer participation (CP) directly influences new product performance, this study builds on extant literature to demonstrate that strategic collaboration serves as an important mechanism connecting CP to new product performance. Furthermore, the impact of CP on strategic collaboration varies when accounting for different types of CP (i.e., CP breadth and CP depth) and different forms of ambiguities (i.e., need-based ambiguity and knowledge-based ambiguity). Using data collected from an information technology firm and its 175 business customers, the authors find that the influences of CP breadth and CP depth on strategic collaboration are positive yet dissimilar. They further find that those relationships alter in the presence of need-based ambiguity and knowledge-based ambiguity, suggesting that the impact of CP on strategic collaboration and new product performance is far from direct. More results and their implications are discussed toward the end. • In response to the increasing reliance on knowledge-intensive service products, our study allows researchers and managers to gain more understanding on the sequential relationship among CP, strategic collaboration, and new product performance in a B2B setting. • By separating CP depth from breadth and by introducing two forms of ambiguities and strategic collaboration as contingency factors, this research offers theoretical insights for and empirical evidence on the divergent effects of CP on new product performance. • This study helps customer and supplier firms understand the different performance implications of strategic collaboration.