현대 기업들은 급변하는 글로벌 경제상황에 대처하기 위해 혁신적이고 창의적인 제품 개발에 집중하고 있다. 본 실험은 마케팅 신제품 개발 분야에서 관찰을 활용한 창의적 신제품 아이디어 개발방법에 초점을 두고 있다. 신제품 개발에 있어 효율적 아이디어 창출방법을 활용한다면 제품 개발자와 마케팅 현업 담당자에게 실무적인 도움을 주어 결과적으로 히트하는 상품이 나오게 된다. 본 연구의 실험과제는 치과 치료기구 개선 아이디어이며 총 4개의 그룹에게 창의적 아이디어를 창출하도록 하였다. 독립변수는 사용상황 관찰 유무와 예시 아이디어 제시 여부이고 종속변수로는 창의적 산출물 수준을 측정할 수 있는 아이디어의 질과 지불의사 가격을 사용하였다. 실험 결과, 사용상황을 관찰한 집단에서 창출한 아이디어가 그렇지 않은 집단 대비 아이디어의 질이 높았으며 지불의사 가격은 26.7% 높았다. 또한 예시 아이디어가 제공되지 않은 집단의 아이디어가 제공된 집단보다 아이디어의 질이 높았으며 지불의사가격은 20.8% 높았다. 사용상황 관찰은 현저성 효과를 통해 아이디어의 창출에 긍정적으로 작용하는 반면에 예시 아이디어 제시는 고착화 현상으로 이어져 아이디어 창출에 부정적으로 작용하는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 관찰과 예시아이디어 제시와의 상호작용 효과는 아이디어의 질에 영향을 주지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 인지적 관점에 따르면, 아이디어 창출은 생성과 탐색을 번갈아 한다. 생성단계는 주로 단기 기억에서 일어나며 주어진 과제를 이해하고 문제를 정의하고 단서들을 조합하여 아이디어 방향을 정한다. 탐색단계에서는 문제정의와 단서를 기반으로 장기기억에 저장된 정보들을 조합하여 구체적 해결방법을 찾아내게 된다. 이해결과정에서 외부 인출단서의 종류와 양에 따라 장기기억에서 인출되는 정보탐색 과정이 활성화 되거나 방해를 받게 된다. 본 실험에서 사용상황 관찰을 하는 경우, 지불의사 가격이 26.7% 높은 아이디어를 얻을 수 있다는 것을 밝혔다. 마케팅 문헌조사에서 그동안 관찰의 중요성과 유용성은 인지하고 있었으나, 관찰이 어떻게 창의적 아이디어에 영향을 주는지 객관적이고 과학적으로 검증한 논문이 적었다는 의미에서 본 실험은 이론적 중요성과 시사점을 가지고 있다. 기존의 정성조사(FGI: Focus Group Interview)로만 활용되었던 관찰방법을 현업에서 잘 활용하면 고객 니즈에 대한 신제품 반영으로 신제품 개발과정에 도움을 주거나 기존 제품의 개선에 크게 도움이 된다는 측면에서 실무적으로 활용, 적용될 수 있다.
Currently, Korean companies are diverting their direction to maximize individual and organizational creativity. This experiment focuses on how to develop creative ideas for new products by using observation from the viewpoint of creativity development. The idea generation method in the development of new products actually helps product developers and marketing managers and decides whether or not to create a new successful product based on which idea generation method is selected and actively used and operated. In the case of this experiment, we measured the quality of ideas and the willingness to pay for ideas with high potential for commercialization in the development of new products according to the independent variables (whether observation and suggestion of example idea). As a result of the experiment, the quality of the idea of the group who learned the observation was higher than that of the non-use (control group) in the same observation situation, and it was surveyed by the high intention to pay. Also, in the same observational situation, the group with no example idea was higher in the quality of the idea compared to the group that received the example idea. Observation results in more empathy as subjects encounter more information and stimuli from watching videos, and develop creativity as they experience complex cognitive processes. The group presented with the idea leads to a limited process of thinking compared to the group that does not. Because the group receiving example idea has less active exploration process for problem solving and simplification of cognitive process, the quality level of ideas is lower and the price of willingness to pay is lower than the group without example idea. Observing the usage is positive for the generation of ideas, Example idea presentation has been shown to negatively affect idea creation. Interaction effect between observation and presentation of example ideas did not appear to affect idea quality. Observations activate the information retrieval process, but hinder the presentation of example ideas. From the cognitive perspective, idea generation creates ideas by alternating generation and exploration. The creation phase usually takes place in short-term memory, where a given task is understood, the problem is defined, and the clues are combined to direct the idea. In the searching phase, specific solutions are found by combining information stored in long-term memory based on problem definitions and clues. The group that observes the usage situation before the idea creation has more clues to the idea creation through observation, and as a result, the long-term memory is explored more extensively in the exploration stage. For hypothesis setting, we used SIAM(Search for Ideas in Associative Memory) model of cognitive psychology. SIAM describes idea generation as the interaction between the two phases of knowledge activation and idea generation. In the knowledge activation phase, we define a problem using the search cues obtained from the outside and search for solutions in long-term memory using the search cues. The wider the exploration of long-term memory, the more creative solutions can be found. Therefore, ideas are created alternately using search cues in short-term memory and searching for solutions in long-term memory. In other words, through observation of usage situation, the subject gets more clues, and withdraws them from the long-term memory through the prominence effect through more searching and generating process. On the other hand, providing an example idea is the functional fixation phenomenon, which limits the process of generating and exploring ideas. This allows the group that came up with the idea after observing usage situation to generate better ideas. On the other hand, the group that encounters the example idea before the idea is settled on the illustrated idea, which hinders wider exploration at the generating and exploration stage. These results did not change even after controlling and analyzing emergence in each group. In terms of the willing to pay the price of the idea, the group observed the use price was 26.7% higher than the group that did not. Observation is more prominent due to the vividness effect, which activates the search activity. On the contrary, the idea clue limits the thinking and impedes the search process in the opposite direction to observation. In general, observations provide more withdrawal clues, facilitate the information search process, and help withdraw information from long-term memory. In other words, an exploration process is necessary to discover ideas. In this process, observation helps positively utilize information contained in long-term memory. Visual information through observation attracts a lot of withdrawal information from long-term memory and activates individual cognitive processes to prepare various alternatives. In the sense that marketing was aware of the importance of observation, but few papers attempted to see how observation influences creative ideas, this experiment is of practical importance. Good use in the field can greatly help new product development in that it can greatly improve existing products.