Called eValuate, the tool will allow companies to determine, in as little as 24 hours, whether an innovation can attract new customers, or if it risks cannibalising existing products in a company’s portfolio.

The tool measures the incremental growth the concepts will deliver. TNS said that while other tools give equal weight to every respondent, this approach looks at consumer behaviour at an individual level – for example, whether someone has a high or low probability of purchasing the new product. This allows a more accurate prediction of the ‘expected value’ that each customer will provide.

It is being launched in the US, UK, China, Germany, Australia and The Netherlands in July, and will be rolled out to more than 20 markets before the end of the year.

David Soulsby, global director, innovation and product development, at TNS, said: “Giving a concept the ‘green light’ involves committing significant investment to product development, so concept screening is a critical phase in the innovation process. However, decisions at this stage often have to be made quickly to drive speed to market. Most screening promotes the concepts with the highest trial potential. However, this approach is fundamentally flawed, because these ideas don’t always provide the best growth opportunity – due to the value-destroying menace of cannibalisation.”