This article explores the role of marketing in the new product development process from a sociopolitical influence perspective. It makes an explicit distinction between the participation and influence of marketing and empirically investigates their differential effects on new product performance. The results, based on data collected from 114 high-technology firms in China, suggest that marketing's influence is related positively to new product market performance and timeliness of development. They also support the argument that the positive effect of marketing's participation on new product performance is mediated completely by its influence. Furthermore, the study reveals that the effectiveness of marketing's influence on new product performance depends on product newness to the firm, project formalization, perceived power of marketing, and the strength of the influence attempt. Managerial and research implications of the findings are explored.
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