ATAR Evaluation and the ATAR Model

Two major perspectives on new product evaluation have been proffered, and in order to make a decision of which one is right -- or what level of compromise should be established -- it is necessary to more closely examine the issue. On the one hand, it has been suggested that early evaluation can determine whether or not resources are wisely spent in further development, meaning the firm will spend less on products that are less promising, while on the other hand developing everything faster and evaluating at a later stage yields more meaningful data and more realistic assessments of potential success, while also leading to the creation of more potentially viable products. While there is some merit to both arguments, a general application of the ATAR model can be used of demonstrate the higher efficacy of earlier evaluation in terms of increasing overall profitability.

The acronym ATAR stands for Awareness, Trial, Availability, Repeat, but the process actually tends to occur in slightly different chronological...

First there must be product awareness, which means that a potential customer has heard of the product and some specific feature that differentiates it from competitors and potentially adds value to the consumer (Leeds 2011). Early evaluation in this regard will help to determine if the fundamental idea of a product is actually worth pursuing in further development, and though later evaluation might provide more detailed information such details are not generally the core functions for which new products are purchased (Cartier 2011). Awareness must be driven by a fundamental difference or feature.
The next step that occurs in the model is Availability, which must be established before a Trial can occur (Cartier 2011; Leeds 2011). Neither method of evaluation has a major impact on product availability, though products that are evaluated earlier are less likely to generate awareness and then be unavailable -- as fewer products will make it down the pike in the first place, those that do come far enough along…