Product innovation and value creation : how can the launch of a new product affect the reputation of a company?

Reputation plays an increasingly important role in the business environment, but companies often do not take it into consideration while taking decisions. In particular, reputation can determine the success or the failure of a launch of a new product or service in the market, with important financial consequences for the enterprise. This paper is focused on understanding how much customers rely on their perception of the firm when they take their purchase decision. In particular, we want to find out which are the elements that form the reputation, on which companies should act. Moreover, we want to investigate how an innovative good can modify, in positive or negative terms, the reputation of a firm. To do that, we have analysed the detergent market in Italy, by considering the introduction that took place in 2010 of “Dash Ecodosi”, a gel cap detergent that was able to create a breakthrough in this industry