Development of Herbal Topical Anesthetic Mucoadhesive Spray for oral Cavity using Customer-Centric Approach

The use of herbal medicines is increasing globally due to consumer perceptions and scientific research. The limited availability of herbal medications and a lack of effective topical anesthetics have driven the development of new products using a customer-centric strategy. This study aimed to present a novel herbal topical anesthetic mucoadhesive spray development using the New Product Development (NPD) process though three steps: the idea concept of the product, prototype development, and consumers’ acceptance evaluation, involving key stakeholders-consumers and healthcare professionals. Multiple research methods were implemented, including qualitative, quantitative, and scientific methods, in each step. The findings showed insights gathered through in-depth interviews about the product needs of stakeholders. Multiple regression analysis showed that price, attitude, and social value significantly positively influenced consumer purchase intentions, while attitude influenced healthcare professionals' prescribing intentions. Consequently, the prototype was developed based on consumer needs. The results of the acceptance evaluation phase indicated high consumer acceptance of the herbal topical anesthetic mucoadhesive spray. The entire journey of the new product development process in this study enhances our understanding of customer-centric approaches in product development and can be applied to generate market-driven innovations that meet the needs of the target market. Doi: 10.28991/HEF-2023-04-03-02 Full Text: PDF