Eco-innovation and new product development: understanding the influences on market performance

The greening of product innovation process has been under study by researchers, but mostly it is at an anecdotal level. Extant literature asks for empirical study to explore how to make greener products more successful at the market place. This paper reports on a survey of environmental new product development (ENPD) projects in North America wherein influences on the market performance are investigated. New activities such as design for environment/life cycle analysis and supplier involvement for environmental responsiveness are identified in the ENPD process. The paper uses hierarchical regression method to find relative and incremental impact of eco-innovation activities in ENPD projects on market performance. Factors that influence market performance of greener products are found to be cross-functional co-ordination between new product development professionals and environmental specialists, supplier involvement, market focus and life cycle analysis. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.