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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

A cross-country study of consumer innovativeness and technological service innovation

The current literature suggests that the concept of consumer innovativeness is universally applicable. Innovators are believed to be novelty seekers and risk takers independent of their national identity, and therefore to be attracted to similar characteristics of an innovation across most countries. However, research in intercultural marketing has shown that cultural norms and values have varying influences on the adoption of innovation, a finding that seems to contradict the assumption that the relationship between consumer innovativeness and adoption of innovation is universally uniform. This research investigates the effects of consumer innovativeness on attitude toward a service-based innovation across three European countries. The results of a multi-group structural equation modeling show that the relationship between consumer innovativeness and attitude toward innovation varies across the three dimensions of perceived novelty, perceived value, and perceived risk.     

Incorporating heterogeneous adoption rates in new product diffusion: A model and empirical investigations

This paper presents a stochastic model of the adoption process for durables that explicitly incorporates heterogeneity in adoption rates among the consumers. The model assumes that the individual adoption times follow the Weibull distribution. Heterogeneity in adoption rates is represented by the gamma distribution. The resulting Burr distribution is more general than the Bass model, fits data as well as the Bass model estimated using OLS regression, and has parameters that can be used to make inferences about individual adoption behavior without being influenced by spurious aggregation effects.Special thanks are due to Professor Donald Lehmann for providing numerous suggestions and encouragement at all stages of the study. Thanks are also due to Professors David Schmittlein and Richard Colombo and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier draft of the paper.     

Children's use of perceptual cues in product categorization

This study examines how young children use perceptual cues in categorizing products. Specifically, we examine the notion that young children use perceptual cues in a more informed fashion than is generally assumed by traditional viewpoints on cognitive development. Data from the three age groups—four- and five-year-olds, six- and seven-year-olds, and adults—confirm that even young children can use perceptual cues in a manner that is diagnostic of product category membership and that this ability increases with age.     

Assessment centers: A contrast of usage in diverse environments

The assessment center technique for sales force selection, promotion, career development, and training has received substantial attention. In addition to being cited as having substantial potential for more traditional sales management applications, the approach has been identified as well-suited for cross-cultural and multinational sales environments. This study appraises assessment center applications in two divergent settings: the United States and Europe. Expectations of greater awareness and utilization among European marketing managers were confirmed. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Video teleconference use among geographically dispersed work groups: A field investigation of usage patterns and user preferences

Use of video teleconferencing (VTC) has been on the rise for several years, yet researchers have often discussed the failure of VTCs to support communication. The VTC facility at the MITRE Corporation is used more than would have been predicted by other research. Surveys were mailed to 300 MITRE employees who were known to have used our VTC facility or to have traveled (or both) during August of 1991. The survey asked respondents to describe at least one geographically dispersed work group of which they are a member, and it asked them to discuss how they choose among various approaches to communication, including holding face‐to‐face meetings and VTCs. Respondents felt that VTC is highly useful. It is best used for meetings that have little emotional content or requirements for interpersonal contact. The content of the meeting, however, was not the primary reason given for choosing between travel and VTCs. Cost and inconvenience of travel were cited as reasons for using VTC, and unavailability of VTC was cited as a reason to travel. Results are compared with those of conflicting studies.     

Conceptualizing and measuring consumer perceptions of retailer innovativeness in Taiwan

This study aims to develop a reliable and valid measure of perceived retailer innovativeness (PRI) in Taiwan. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were employed. A qualitative content analysis from six focus group interviews concludes a specific form of PRI. The quantitative study, which contains 486 7-Eleven and 489 Carrefour consumers, provides an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis in examining the validity of PRI scale. Consumer perceptions of retailer innovativeness can be conceptualized as emotions, cognitions, and behavior responses evoked by store-related stimuli that are part of the offerings, services, design, and activities of a store. Four dimensions have been identified, namely, perceived product-related, service-related, promotion-related, and experience-related innovation capabilities. The PRI scale might be valued by academic scholars for its application for future studies, particularly in an era of intense competition in which innovation is considered as a critical strategic tool for differentiation.     

Information diffusion and new product consumption: A bass model application to tourism facility management

This article applies models to measure and to understand how information diffusion influences tourists' consumption patterns. The study uses administrative data on a new festival's attendance and advertising. Bass's [Bass FM. A new product growth for model consumer durables. Manage Sci 1969;15(5):215-227] model and a modified version [Horsky D, Simon LS. Advertising and the diffusion of new products. Mark Sci 1983;2(1):1-18] to allow for advertising's effect. Results imply effectiveness of front loaded advertising. This result is due to increasing purchases that result from word-of-mouth information diffusion. However, a model with an effect of advertising is accepted as well as a model with no consideration of advertising budget. Examination of consistency and conceptual issues with models raises the need for models that are more realistic for the tourism product. A specific concern is developing models appropriate to analysis of attendance at a limited-duration innovative event (e.g., new product) held at a host to impact longer-term attendance of the host.