Retention · Structural equation modeling

Do switching costs hurt new product development performance? The role of relationship quality and customer involvement

Management Decision · 2022

Yi Li, Nelson Oly Ndubisi, Jinpeng Xu, Gang Li

Summary

Switching costs negatively affect NPD market performance, speed, and cost; relationship quality and customer involvement positively moderate the effects.

For your marketing

Possible founder application

Make integrations portable and invest in relationship quality and customer co-development to prevent lock-in from hurting innovation.

Reported result

What the study found

Switching costs negatively affect NPD market performance, speed, and cost; relationship quality and customer involvement positively moderate the effects.

Research question

What the authors investigated

How does the study’s stated design explain its reported outcome in this setting?

Design

Structural equation modeling

Sample and setting

Chinese manufacturing firms

Scope and transfer

Limitations to keep in view

Abstract/page scope does not establish broader causal generalization.

Research sources

abstract_only

Study strength

3.5/5 Abstract-level evidence is useful for framing questions; verify full methods before transfer.

How this was assessed

The 1–5 evidence-check score is a practical reading aid, not a formal peer review or a probability that a conclusion is true. It combines design strength (2 points), sample reporting (1), comparison/control clarity (1), and how much of the paper could be checked (1). Access affects how confidently this directory can assess a study, not the study's underlying quality. Blinding is reported separately because it is not relevant to every design.

Design transparency · 2/2

Based on the reported study design in the retrieved source.

Sample and setting · 1/1

The sample context is stated; a numerical count is preserved only when reported.

Outcome clarity · 1/1

The finding is summarized from publisher or article metadata.

Access for checking · 0.5/1

Only abstract or bibliographic access was confirmed.

Double-blind? The retrieved publisher record does not establish whether participants or outcome assessors were blinded.