Market forecasting for new products is a difficult task. Some of the reasons are the large number of techniques available for forecasting and the scarce orientation on the best techniques to apply. Difficult increases because most of the literature on new product forecasting focuses on the techniques and not on the management issues, such as discussing when to employ the technique. This article aims to guide practitioners on the techniques to be applied in specific situations. The approach assumes there are different categories of new products and that a market forecasting is divided up in steps. Each combination of new product category and job step can define specific techniques to be adopted. Due to the extension of the subject, suggestions for future research are also indicated.
Forecasting techniques; new product development; market forecast; product introduction
