Maria Salamoura, Vasilis Angelis, John Kehagias and Constantine Lymperopoulos
The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the relationship between quality and accessibility, as selective influencing parameters of new product acceptance for Greek…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the relationship between quality and accessibility, as selective influencing parameters of new product acceptance for Greek, fast moving, and consumer products.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for this study come from a mail questionnaire sent to 680 executives operating in Greek enterprises, by using a combination of sampling criteria (advertising budget, turnover). Non‐parametric tests (Wilcoxon, Spearman, Kruskal‐Wallis and Pearson χ2) were used, together with descriptive measures to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results indicate that quality (usage/support) is a more important factor than Accessibility (economic/physical) in the formation of a “new product acceptance function”. Furthermore, usage quality is more important than support quality, while economic accessibility is more important than physical accessibility.
Research limitations/implications
The research limitations refer to the fact that the justification of the hypotheses in connection with the executive‐based approach followed has not been found to have any precedents. In addition, a multi, rather than single, source identification process was used for the new product acceptance factors.
Practical implications
For marketers, research of the conceptualization of the “acceptance function” acts as a basis for building a new products' marketing plan focused on the consumer, in a way which reflects the company characteristics, as well as the particular market conditions.
Originality/value
This paper is exploring new ground in that it isolates and examines the substitution between quality and accessibility as selective influencing parameters of acceptance for new fast moving consumer goods in Greece.