Forecasting future demand for large-screen television sets using conjoint analysis with diffusion model

The methodological framework proposed in this paper addresses two limitations of the basic Bass diffusion model: that it does not reflect competition among products nor does it forecast demand for products that do not exist in the marketplace. The model consists of four steps. First, to investigate consumer preferences for product attributes, we use conjoint analysis to estimate the utility function of consumers. Next we estimate the dynamic price function of each competing product to reflect technological changes and the evolving market environment. Then we derive dynamic utility function by combining the static utility function and the price function. Finally, we forecast the sales of each product using estimated market share and sales data for each period, which are derived from the dynamic utility function and from the Bass diffusion model, respectively.We apply this model to South Korea's market for large-screen televisions. The results show that (1) consumers are sensitive to picture resolution and cost and (2) in the near future, should the market see the introduction of liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs with screens larger than 50 inches, the high resolution and steep price drop of LCD will lead LCD TVs to capture a larger market share than TVs with other display types. Finally, our results show that TVs with 40-inch screens are preferred over TVs with larger screens.     

A non-homogeneous non-uniform influence model of innovation diffusion

A model of innovation diffusion which gives unequal weightage to the adopters of different temporal stages and captures commonly observed ups and downs in new product diffusion is proposed. It is shown that our model possesses features of the existing flexible diffusion models and shows better fit which is indicated by the values of R²_adj, mean absolute deviation, and mean percentage error and estimates a larger market potential, M. It has an interesting feature of conversion factors, first increasing then vanishing, much before we approach market saturation, implying that there is a scope of new thrust in converting remaining potential adopters.     

Forecasting demand for a newly introduced product using reservation price data and Bayesian updating

Forecasting demand during the early stages of a product's life cycle is a difficult but essential task for the purposes of marketing and policymaking. This paper introduces a procedure to derive accurate forecasts for newly introduced products for which limited data are available. We begin with the assumption that the consumer reservation price is related to the timing with which the consumer adopts the product. The model is estimated using reservation price data derived through a consumer survey, and the forecast is updated with sales data as they become available using Bayes's rule. The proposed model's forecasting performance is compared with that of benchmark models (i.e., Bass model, logistic growth model, and a Bayesian model based on analogy) using 23 quarters' worth of data on South Korea's broadband Internet services market. The proposed model outperforms all benchmark models in both prelaunch and postlaunch forecasting tests, supporting the thesis that consumer reservation price can be used to forecast demand for a new product before or shortly after product launch.     

When does the majority become a majority? Empirical analysis of the time at which main market adopters purchase the bulk of our sales

The idea of a dual-market structure in the early stages of a product's life cycle has become one of the most widely accepted ideas among new product marketing practitioners in the past decade. Concepts such as “Early Market/Main Market” and “Visionaries/Pragmatists” have entered the lexicon of high-tech executives to express the notion that the market for new products is composed of early and main markets with a discontinuity in the diffusion process in between them. Moreover, these concepts have been at least partially tested and verified in the marketing academic literature in the past few years.We extend this branch of research by investigating the timing issues in dual-market cases. We define Change-of-Dominance Time (CD-Time) as the number of years it takes main market adopters to outnumber early market adopters. We empirically investigate this timing issue on a comprehensive data set of new product sales in the consumer electronics industry. We find that regarding explanatory determinants of CD-Time, external influence, such as advertising, to the early market is the most important explanatory variable.We examine the relationship between CD-Time and other early product life cycle phenomena: Takeoff, Saddle, and Rogers' size of adopter categories. We found relatively high correlations between these phenomena and CD-Time.The answer to the question “When does the majority become a majority?” is indeed “at 16%”! In a dual-market setting, the average time at which the main market outnumbers the early market is when 16% of the market has already adopted the product. In terms of time, in 75% of the cases the majority becomes a majority in 5 to 10 years.     

Modelling a dynamic market potential: A class of automata networks for diffusion of innovations

Innovation diffusion processes are generally described at aggregate level with models like the Bass Model (BM) and the Generalized Bass Model (GBM). However, the recognized importance of communication channels between agents has recently suggested the use of agent-based models, like Cellular Automata. We argue that an adoption or purchase process is nested in a communication network that evolves dynamically and indirectly generates a latent non-constant market potential affecting the adoption phase.Using Cellular Automata we propose a two-stage model of an innovation diffusion process. First we describe a communication network, an Automata Network, necessary for the “awareness” of an innovation. Then, we model a nested process depicting the proper purchase dynamics. Through a mean field approximation we propose a continuous representation of the discrete time equations derived by our nested two-stage model. This constitutes a special non-autonomous Riccati equation, not yet described in well-known international catalogues. The main results refer to the closed form solution that includes a general dynamic market potential and to the corresponding statistical analysis for identification and inference. We discuss an application to the diffusion of a new pharmaceutical drug.     

双元视角下市场导向平衡效应对高科技中小企业新产品绩效的影响

以往研究采用直接二分法探讨两类市场导向对企业绩效存在不同程度的影响。基于双元理论视角，首先，梳理市场导向研究演进脉络，界定市场导向平衡效应的含义，并从资源分配和创新风险角度阐述市场导向平衡效应对企业的影响；其次，构建市场导向影响企业新产品绩效的理论模型，实证考察先驱型市场导向和反应型市场导向平衡效应影响中小型高科技企业新产品绩效的内部机制。通过分析212家中小型高科技企业有效样本，得出以下结论：市场导向平衡效应对企业双元创新具有显著正向影响；双元创新对企业新产品绩效具有显著正向影响；双元创新在市场导向平衡效应与新产品绩效关系中起完全中介作用。     

产业融合与融合产品的需求增长--基于修正的Bass模型的分析

产业融合形成的创新性产品所带来的需求增长包含了两个过程:一是对产业融合的原有产业市场需求的替代,二是创造出原有市场之外的新的市场需求。本文在对Bass及相关模型的假设条件作出适当修正的基础上,建立了能够方便、准确地对融合产品的需求增长状况进行分析和估计的产业融合需求增长模型。基于这一模型,本文对融合产品的需求替代和创新、融合产品的需求增长估计以及融合产品的需求增长趋势进行了经验验证和预测。     

A study on the relationship between technology diffusion and new product diffusion

This study investigates the relationship between “technology diffusion” and “new product diffusion”. We define “technology diffusion” as a knowledge spillover process, which is represented by patent citation, and “new product diffusion” as the spread of a new product that has been developed by the application of patented technology. To investigate the relationship between the two types of diffusion, we use patent citation data of code division multiple access (CDMA) technology and market sales data of mobile phones in South Korea for the analysis. The results show that the diffusion of technology through patent citation could be successfully explained by empirical analysis, for which the Bass diffusion model was used. Moreover, we can find out if technology diffusion can be the leading indicator of a new product's diffusion before its launching; in other words, before the commercialization of the patent.     

Technology product evolution and the diffusion of new product features

The evolution of technology products can be analysed on multiple levels. Product categories go through continuous evolution determined by the cumulative changes in the features of new product models. This is manifested in the diffusion of new product features and in the increasingly vague boundaries between different product generations. This article develops an approach for planning and forecasting technology product evolution and the diffusion of new product features. This is achieved by isolating the phenomena underlying the evolution process, and formulating the process at the product category, product feature, and product model levels. The approach is derived from these formulations combining the primarily demand-driven product category diffusion and product unit replacement behaviour, and the more supply-driven product feature dissemination. The approach enables meaningful sensitivity analysis including the analysis of discontinuities. The developed approach is applied to characterise the evolution of an example product category of mobile handsets and to forecast the diffusion of mobile handset features using extensive longitudinal and cross-sectional data collected from Finland. In consequence, the process of technology product evolution and the phenomenon of product feature dissemination are suggested as extensions to research on product category diffusion and replacement.     

高技术服务业产品侵蚀时机的选择研究

高技术服务企业要保持战略上的竞争力,需要不断地完善高技术服务产品,不断地进行高技术服务产品的创新和更新换代.因此,高技术服务业创新过程中的侵蚀现象成为一种普遍的现象.市场上在推出新的高技术服务产品之后,新一代服务产品将侵蚀老产品,老一代高技术服务产品的销售额会很快下降,把握好侵蚀的有效时机可以为高技术服务企业带来持续的竞争优势.本文通过对高技术服务业概念的回顾,介绍了高技术服务产品的侵蚀现象,接着分析了高技术服务业产品侵蚀时间的影响因素,最后通过模型分析了高技术服务企业产品侵蚀时机的选择,并得到一些启示.     

Modelling seasonality in innovation diffusion

The ability to forecast new product growth is especially important for innovative firms that compete in the marketplace. Today many new products exhibit very strong seasonal behaviour, which may deserve specific modelling, both for producing better forecasts in the short term and for better explaining special market dynamics and related managerial decisions. By considering seasonality as a deterministic component to be estimated jointly with the trend through Nonlinear Least Squares methods, we have developed two extensions of the Guseo–Guidolin model that are able to simultaneously describe trend and seasonality. Such models are based on two different but equally reasonable approaches: in one case we consider a simple additive decomposition of a time series and design a model in which seasonality is directly added to the trend and jointly estimated with it; in the other we design a more complex structure, mimicking that of a Generalized Bass model and embed two separate seasonal perturbations within the dynamic market potential and the corresponding adoption process. The different characteristics of two products, a pharmaceutical drug and an IT device, make it possible to appreciate empirically various modelling options and performances. Both models are quite simple to implement and to interpret from a managerial point of view.     

结合新产品扩散特征的实物期权定价模型研究

现有实物期权定价模型未能考虑新产品销售量所呈现的扩散特征,模型的分析结果与实际情况有较大差距。文章假设新产品价格服从几何布朗运动,并以Bass模型预测新产品的销售过程,运用二叉树方法,构建了离散时间状态下结合新产品扩散特征的实物期权定价模型,并得到新技术采用的最优时机。     

The late take-off phenomenon in the diffusion of telecommunication services: network effect and the critical mass

Telecommunication services are distinctive in that their adoptions are influenced by network effect resulting in the late take-off phenomenon and the critical mass problem. In this paper we examined the late take-off phenomenon in the diffusion process of telecommunication services. We first compared the parameters of the diffusion process of consumer durables with those of fax services in the US and Korea. By analyzing the parameters of a new diffusion model based on the threshold model proposed by Markus, we found that the late take-off phenomenon resulted from the low heterogeneity of the threshold distribution for the potential adopters. A simulation approach was proposed for the theoretical implication of the critical mass problem in the start-up telecommunications services.     

基于技术创新扩散环境的Bass扩散模型修正研究

对技术创新扩散环境进行了界定和分类,并就环境因素对技术创新扩散的影响进行了分析,得出由于环境的不确定性决定了技术创新扩散轨迹的不稳定性的结论。在此基础上,从环境因素的影响入手,分别对基本的Bass模型和扩展的Bass模型进行了修正,并对新模型的性质进行了分析。     

The impact of competition,and economic globalization on the multinational diffusion of 3G mobile phones

To discover differences in technology diffusion of 3G mobile phones across countries, we investigate the impact of market factors, measured by competitive fractionalization, and economic globalization across countries using a multi-country diffusion model. We incorporate comprehensive socioeconomic and telecommunications data covering 35 geographically and economically diverse countries and control for covariates from literature. We used the Non-linear Mixed Modeling (NLMIXED) approach in SAS with pooled multi-country data to estimate a generalized Bass model taking into account unobserved heterogeneity in market saturation levels, a major source of inter-country differences. Our substantive findings are: the significance of the impact of competitive fractionalization on the likelihood of adoption and on the market potential; the significance of the impact of economic globalization on market growth. Our findings will aid international managers and regulators in their strategy and policy formulations. Finally, we demonstrate model validity by model fit and predictive accuracy.     

An analysis of the effect of the economic situation on modeling and forecasting the diffusion of wireless communications in Finland

In this paper, the diffusion of wireless communications in Finland is studied. The objectives are to find factors which have affected the diffusion process and to forecast the diffusion of wireless communications in Finland. The diffusion process is based on the epidemic diffusion theory. The data consists of annual wireless subscribers of networks based on Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standards in 1981-1998. The data is fitted into the logistic model by means of nonlinear least squares after writing two parameters of the logistic model as functions of certain variables. The results show that the economic situation has affected the relative growth rate, and that the wireless network coverage has affected the number of potential adopters. By extrapolating the logistic model, a forecast with a confidence interval of wireless communications subscriber rates in Finland is made. The forecast shows that the final penetration rate will be some 91.7% in 2009. The model predicts the actual figures of year 1999 very accurately. Finally, the time derivatives of the diffusion process are analyzed; they clarify the effect of economic situation on the diffusion.     

基于联合分析的新产品市场占有率预测——学生笔记本电脑市场的实证分析

市场竞争日趋激烈,企业要想在市场竞争中立于不败之地,在开发一种新产品时,势必要预测新产品在市场上的份额,本文在简述联合分析基本原理的基础上,以开发学生笔记本电脑市场的新产品为例,采用联合分析方法中的最大效用值法来预测新产品的市场占有率。     

Cross-country diffusion of photovoltaic systems: Modelling choices and forecasts for national adoption patterns

In this paper we propose an innovation diffusion framework based on well-known Bass models to analyze and forecast national adoption patterns of photovoltaic installed capacity. This allows for interesting comparisons among several countries and in many cases highlights the positive effect of incentive policies in stimulating the diffusion of such a technology. In this sense, the Generalized Bass Model proves to be essential for modelling and forecasting. On this basis, we observe important differences in the investments made by countries in the PV sector and we are able to identify whether and when these investments obtained the expected results. In particular, from our analysis it turns out that in some cases incentive measures have been certainly effective in facilitating adoption, while in some others these have not been able to produce real feed-back. Moreover, our cross-country approach is able to forecast different stages in PV evolution: whereas some countries have already entered the mature stage of diffusion, others have just begun. This result may suggest various considerations about the competitive advantage of those countries that invested in alternative energy provisions. In spite of a very diversified scenario in terms of historical patterns of diffusion, we may report, as a general result, the fragile role of innovators for this special market and the dominance of imitative behaviour in adoptions.     

Strategic R&D policy under vertically differentiated oligopoly

In this paper strategic R&D policy is analysed, where a high-tech firm and a low-tech firm compete in a third country with vertically differentiated ( high-quality and low-quality ) products. If the product market is under price competition, the high-tech (low-tech) firm's government has an incentive to tax (subsidize) its domestic firm's product R&D activities. If the product market is under quantity competition, the results are opposite: an R&D subsidy (tax) incentive for the high-tech (low-tech) firm's government; and the high-tech firm's government always gains in the R&D policy game, in contrast to the standard prisoner's dilemma result of the R&D policy literature. JEL Classification: F13