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

This article examines how the perceived quality of extrafunctional informat ion improves the innovation management process and contributes to success w ith innovations. Data collected from 420 Japanese managers and 270 U,S, man agers are used to test hypotheses about the antecedents of satisfaction wit h extrafunctional information and the impacts on new product performance. T he results demonstrate that the level of marketing and R&D managers' satisf action with extrafunctional information is an important predictor of new pr oduct success and financial performance. The results also show that marketi ng 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 satisfactio n with R&D satisfaction. Each functional area should recognize which messag e factors are most related to high satisfaction with received information, and emphasize these when sending such information. We also discovered moder ating effects of market and technical uncertainty that should provide guida nce for marketing and R&D managers on how to allocate their efforts in info rmation transfer based on the external environment. The empirical findings also revealed some cross-cultural differences, as well as a few similaritie s, between U.S. and Japanese respondents.