Development time and new product sales: A contingency analysis of product innovativeness and price

Opposing theories and conflicting empirical results with regard to the effect of development time on new product sales suggest the need for a contingency analysis into factors affecting this relationship. This study uses a unique combination of accounting and perceptual data from 129 product development projects to test the combined contingency effect of product innovativeness and new product price on the relationship between development time and new product sales. The results show that for radically new products with short development times, price has no effect on new product sales. When the development time is long, price has a negative effect on the sales of radical new products. The findings additionally show that price has no effect on sales for incremental new products with short development times and a negative effect for incremental new products with long development times. Together, these findings shed new light on the relationship between development time and new product sales.     

A cognitive model to predict domain-specific consumer innovativeness

Marketers who launch innovative products need to identify consumers who are willing to learn about, buy, and use these innovations. To optimize marketing campaigns, practitioners need to know the characteristics of this key segment in the diffusion process. Previous research, however, provides confounding results about antecedents of innovativeness because of two limitations: (1) previous studies have conceptualized innovativeness on different levels of abstraction (2) previous studies have not taken into account the influence of the product category. The present paper suggests a conceptual framework to overcome these shortcomings. Based on this framework, the paper suggests a theoretically founded cognitive model of domain-specific innovativeness for a product category with a utilitarian benefit. This model is empirically tested in the field of automotive interior. To this end, 521 German car drivers were surveyed. The results of structural equation modeling show that domain-specific innovativeness for utilitarian products is mainly influenced by specific need for cognition, special interest media usage and domain-specific opinion leadership.     

Innovativeness in product usage: A comparison of early adopters and early majority

A field study was conducted to examine if time of adoption (i.e., purchase innovativeness) was systematically related with use innovativeness, product involvement, and extent of product usage. The results showed that early adopters had significantly higher use innovativeness and product involvement as compared to the early majority. Although usage variety was higher for early adopters, no significant differences were found in usage frequency between the two groups. Use innovativeness and involvement mediated the relationship between purchase innovativeness and usage variety. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A structural look at consumer innovativeness and self‐congruence in new product purchases

Consumer innovativeness and new product purchasing literatures are replete with solid yet unrelated theories that have not been considered simultaneously as part of a larger psychological framework. This oversight limits the ability of practitioners to effectively target the valuable consumer innovators market segment. In this study, an approach/avoidance framework of new product purchase intentions is discussed and empirically tested via structural equation modeling. Consumer innovativeness, self‐congruence, and satisfaction play the role of approach mechanisms, while perceived risk acts as an avoidance mechanism. The authors combine a set of related yet disconnected theories, while suggesting a means of appealing to consumer innovators through a specific form of self‐congruence. A sample of 741 students is employed to examine these issues. Several notable findings are highlighted, including verification of indirect relationships between the independent variables and behavioral intent. Model fit is excellent and results are consistent across the handheld devices, home entertainment, and music industries. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The impact of market orientation on product innovativeness and business performance

The paper reports a study of the impact of market orientation on business performance. The use of product innovativeness is proposed as a mediator of the influence of market orientation on business performance. Product innovativeness is defined along two dimensions: use of new-to-the-firm and use of new-to-the-market products. Business performance was represented by relative price premium, sales growth, capacity utilization, and profitability. The findings provide support for the positive influence of market orientation on both dimensions of product innovativeness. However, only use of new-to-the-market products turns out to be a positive contributor to business performance.     

Attribute need fulfillment in product usage satisfaction

A deprivation model analog of the effect of first-level (attribute-specific) and second-level (product-related) need fulfillment on satisfaction with a pharmaceutical information publication was tested under actual usage conditions. A sample of 156 pharmacists participated in a three-phase study where information needs and current need fulfillment were measured in phase 1. Product usage over a one-month interval followed in phase 2. In the final phase of the study, attribute performance, first- and second-level need fulfillment, and satisfaction with the product were measured. Analysis suggested that first-level need fulfillment was positively related to attribute performance, negatively related to the degree to which the need was previously fulfilled, and unrelated to level of overall need. Product-level need fulfillment was a function of attribute-level fulfillment, and satisfaction was related to product-level fulfillment and attribute performance. A test for curvilinear trend in the fulfillment-satisfaction association was significant, suggesting that diminishing increments to satisfaction occur in the region of overfulfillment. Some improvement in the parameters occurred when this was incorporated in the model. Implications of the findings are discussed. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Hierarchical effects of product attributes on actualized innovativeness in the context of high-tech products

This paper examines the influence of product attributes in high-tech products on consumers' actualized innovativeness. In Stage 1, product attributes are identified based on interviews with consumers. In Stage 2, a survey is conducted with a different set of consumers in order to classify the product attributes into primary, secondary or tertiary attributes and to test the hypotheses. The results reveal that primary, secondary and tertiary attributes have a reverse hierarchical influence on actualized innovativeness. That is, tertiary attributes influence the actualized innovativeness most, followed by secondary, and then by primary attributes. However, only primary attributes positively moderate the relationship between inherent and actualized innovativeness. These results can help marketing researchers and practitioners understand the influence of product attributes on behavioral aspects of consumer innovativeness.     

Disconfirmation processes and consumer evaluations in product usage

Recent works on satisfaction theory have shown that disconfirmation plays a major role in the determination of satisfaction levels. Less, however, is known about the mental process used by consumers to form disconfirmation cognitions. This study operationalized and tested the role of two types of disconfirmation, inferential and overall (perceived), on the satisfaction of appetite suppressant users after first trial and repeat usage situations. Results showed that overall perceptions mediated the relationship between inferred disconfirmation and satisfaction in both time frames, as hypothesized.     

Cultural influences on future transportation technology usage: The role of personal innovativeness,technology anxiety and desire

This study develops and validates a model, based on personal cultural values theory and psychological research, in relation to technology adoption. The model focuses specifically on the future use of on-demand air mobility (ODAM), which is expected to have significant implications for city commuting and personal well-being in the years ahead. We use a path modelling approach, in addition to recently advanced analytical methods such as the finite mixture partial least squares (FIMIX-PLS), measurement invariance of composite models (MICOM) and multi-group analysis, to validate the model using a data set of 627 young consumers from the Czech Republic. The research model explains 45.2% variation in the future use of ODAM using our global model. This variance explained in the future use of ODAM increases to 62.3% and 64.5% respectively, when we segment our data set into two groups. The results also show that tradition has significant influence on technology anxiety, personal innovativeness and desire to use ODAM. Independence positively affects personal innovativeness but not the desire to use ODAM. We also find that technology anxiety influences the desire to use, which in turn influences the future use of ODAM. However, we find group differences in the influence of ambiguity intolerance on technology anxiety, desire and personal innovativeness. Thus, the study also evaluates the existence of significant differences between two groups in our data set. Overall, the study suggests that individual cultural values play a particularly important role in influencing the future use of ODAM through psychological characteristics. The research implications of the study are discussed in the article.     

Young consumers’ innovativeness in apparel choices: A model including consumer self‐confidence

In industries with network effects, consumer innovators help to trigger the critical mass needed for a product innovation to be successful. Thus, firms can benefit from actions that increase consumer innovativeness in their target markets. Consumer innovativeness has been associated with variables such as hedonic shopping motivation, impulsiveness and status seeking. There is limited work on the impact on consumer innovativeness of consumer characteristics that reflect consumers’ self‐confident ability to choose. This study proposes and tests a model for consumer innovativeness that incorporates variables from previous research and uncovers the importance of consumer self‐confidence. We collect survey data from 534 Chilean girls, ages 10–15. After building constructs with the help of exploratory factor analysis, we analyze the data with linear regression estimation (via OLS). Our results reveal that consumer self‐confidence is positively and significantly related to consumer innovativeness. Our findings also add evidence ‐from a younger age group‐ regarding the significance of status seeking, impulsiveness and hedonic shopping motivation on consumer innovativeness. Results suggest that companies could leverage consumer innovativeness by taking actions to increase consumers’ self‐confidence. Innovative apparel choices in young consumers could possibly also be strengthened by communicating status achievement and by enhancing shopping enjoyment.     

Understanding online product ratings: A customer satisfaction model

Online product ratings have become a major information source for customers, retailers, and manufacturers. Both practitioners and researchers predominantly interpret them as a reflection of product quality. We argue that they in fact represent the customer's satisfaction with the product. Accordingly, we present a customer satisfaction model of online product ratings which incorporates the customer's pre-purchase expectations and actual product performance as determinants of ratings. We validate our model by applying it to two datasets collected at the German website of Amazon.com. The results indicate that both factors have a significant influence on online product ratings, supporting the proposed interpretation of ratings.     

Race,sex, and fashion innovativeness: A replication

This article reports a study of differences in self-reported fashion innovativeness, fashion opinion leadership, and spending for new fashions between middle-class blacks and whites of both sexes. The data was obtained by a mail survey from a random sample of 568 consumers from five states. Analysis of covariance with the effects of age and income controlled indicated (1) a strong main effect for sex, with women reporting greater fashion innovativeness, opinion leadership, and spending than men; (2) a weak main effect for race, with blacks reporting greater innovativeness, opinion leadership, and spending than whites. The difference between the sexes was larger than the difference between races, and no interaction effects were observed.     

Understanding consumer usage of product magnitudes through sorting tasks

Magnitudes describing product attributes are basic elements used in decision making. Although several researchers have emphasized the need to understand how consumers categorize product attributes, empirical research on this issue is rare. As a first step in developing and evaluating methodologies to examine this issue, a sorting task methodology is introduced to study this problem. Hypotheses were generated to address important theoretical issues relating to how consumers use magnitudes describing product attributes and tested in two studies. The results suggest that the number of magnitudes used by consumers to think about product attributes (i) is higher for abstract when compared to concrete attributes, and (ii) is positively related to the number of magnitudes used in an overall evaluation of liking. Results also provided evidence to support the use of the sorting method. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The usage of media across product classes: the influence of demographics and psychographics

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in the types of media used for four product classes, and to examine the effect of respondent's demographics and psychographics on the types of media. Eight hundred and four respondents were randomly selected from the population (8040) of five residential sections of Lubbock, Texas, by using systematic sampling. Different merchandise names representing the classes of product were listed in the questionnaire. The respondents were asked to rate each type of merchandise according to the order of media usage when they purchased the merchandise. One hundred and fifty-two questionnaires were analysed by factor analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, and Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks. Eight psychographic factors extracted by factor analysis were Traditional, Self-confident, Satisfied with Finances, Satisfied with Friends, Living Optimist, Self-conscious, Community Minded, and Homebody. Self-conscious was the only factor to affect the consumers' usage of newspapers, television, radio, magazines and direct mail. In addition, the usage of television was affected by the Satisfied with Finances factor. The demographic variables of marital status, age, education, ethnic group, political outlook, occupation and social level influenced the usage of newspapers, magazines, radio, television and direct mail. The usage of television was affected by one's political affiliation. Income did not influence media usage. The findings indicated that the individual's usage of the newspapers, television, radio, magazines and direct mail was affected by the classes of products: convenience, preference, shopping and speciality goods.     

Serial product evaluations online: A three-factor model of leadership,fluency and tedium during product search

In any product search process, consumers encounter multiple products. In today's online retail environment, such product encounters are increasingly serial, such that consumers review products back-to-back (e.g., through swiping in mobile apps). The present research shows that for the serial evaluation of products, the serial position matters through an interaction of a leadership bias, conceptual fluency and tedium. During a product search, evaluations follow an S-shaped pattern consisting of (1) a primacy phase of declining evaluations (caused by a leadership bias towards the first product), (2) a wear-in phase of increasing evaluations (caused by increasing conceptual fluency after a recognition of the shared attributes of the product category), and (3) a wear-out period of declining evaluations (caused by tedium). Ten empirical investigations in an e-commerce setting granularly trace these three phases, establishing conceptually related overall boundary conditions (matching vs. searching products) and moderators (conditional vs. unconditional searching, product similarity, conceptual category knowledge, product image complexity) of the S-shaped pattern of serial product evaluations.     

User entrepreneurs' multiple identities and crowdfunding performance: Effects through product innovativeness,perceived passion,and need similarity

This study examines the performance of user entrepreneurs in acquiring financial resources via crowdfunding. User entrepreneurs are thought to have better performance than non-user entrepreneurs, but the theoretical underpinnings of these differences are unclear. We propose a baseline hypothesis that claims of user entrepreneurship serve as a signal of capability and commitment to potential backers. In addition, building on three distinct identities of user entrepreneurs, we argue that user entrepreneurs' perceived passion, product innovativeness, and need similarity with potential backers mediate the relationship between user entrepreneurship and crowdfunding performance. Our results from a field study using a sample of crowdfunded ventures support these assertions. We validate these results and measures using both survey and experimental methods. This is one of the first studies to develop a multi-theoretical framework for user entrepreneurship, and the first to provide an underlying theoretical explanation for the superior crowdfunding performance of user entrepreneurs.     

Consumer innovativeness and its correlates: A propositional inventory for future research

This article summarizes the results of a systematic review of the literature on consumer innovativeness and its correlates and provides a propositional inventory for future research. The authors identified seventy-nine relevant empirical articles from international journals through a search of multiple databases using specific search terms, a manual search of marketing and consumer behavior journals and a cross-reference search. The results show that innovativeness consists of different levels of conceptualization and operational processes. Based on these different conceptualizations, the authors offer propositions for further empirical exploration on consumer innovativeness.     

Rebate usage: A motivational perspective

This study investigates the motivational factors in consumer rebate usage. Three motivational factors were identified and tested: price consciousness, perceived time and efforts associated with rebate redemption, and perceived satisfactions from using rebates to obtain the savings. The variables were operationalized by Likert-type statements. Validity and reliability were assessed and found to be acceptable. Moreover, the three factors were found to be useful in predicting consumers' decisions to redeem rebates. Managerial implications and recommendations for future research are offered. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A model of product compatibility introduction with consumer recognition

Firms recognizing consumers often use behavior-based pricing (BBP), i.e., condition prices on purchase history. Prior research studies the framework with independent product offerings and shows that BBP leads to poaching and decreases each firm's profits. In this paper, we investigate the efficacy of BBP in a two-period duopoly where firms provide compatible product categories and endogenously determine the levels of cross-compatibility. We first revisit the impact of behavior-based pricing in the traditional framework with independent offerings and verify the competition-increasing effect of BBP. We then examine how the impact of BBP differs when firms introduce product compatibility. Interestingly, we find that firms can benefit from BBP when firms introduce product compatibility. More specifically, when the value consumers obtain from perfect compatibility is moderate, implementing BBP is more profitable than without consumer recognition. The intuition is that when the value of perfect compatibility is medium, consumers do not expect good switching deals in the second period and firms can charge higher prices in the first period. Our findings not only complement the BBP literature but also shed light on the firms' strategic decisions on product compatibility.