부산대학교 도서관

New products are of major importance for companies’ performance. In order to identify how new product idea creates a different utility proposition from existing products, a buyer utility map was proposed as a tool for identifying opportunities for value differentiation in the blue ocean strategy by W. Kim and W. Mauborgne. The buyer utility map not only helps to get managers thinking from the right perspective but also outlines all the levers companies can pull to deliver utility to customers as well as the different experiences customers can have of a product or service. It is a two-dimensional matrix in which the six stage of the buyer’s experience are cut across by the levers of utility --- the ways in which companies unlock utility for their customers. The six stages of the buyer experience cycle, including purchase, delivery, use, supplements, maintenance, and disposal, is generally available for all products and services. However, the six utility levers, including customer productivity, simplicity, convenience, risk, fun and image, and environmental friendliness, may be not generic. Moreover, the six levers themselves are not mutually independent in many cases.We examined over 500 popular products in both the United States and Chinese market to identify the utility levers in a reasonable way. All the products analyzed in this paper were recommended by mainstream websites of that category in recent years. The product advantages for its commercial successes or attractiveness are derived and classified by using affinity diagram. The result shows that a new set of seven utility levers. It consists of functionality, usability, reliability, aesthetics, risk, and cost and environment friendly. Each of them is also analyzed into a number of specific sub-levers. It seems that most of the popular products considered in this paper are product line extension because the majority of product advantages or characteristics are located on the “use stages” of the buyer experience cycle.