Research note and communication mergers that last: A predictable pattern?

This paper examines the current ownership of 434 large acquisitions made by publicly traded U.S. firms between 1967 and 1969. It is found that the majority of these acquisitions are still held by the acquiring firms. Unrelated acquisitions were resold at a moderately higher, though not significantly different, rate than related acquisitions. These results are discussed in the context of the commonly held view that unrelated acquisitions of that period were poorly conceived additions.     

Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? The effect of changes in product features over time

This article examines how feature additions and removals affect consumers' preferences and the attributions they make regarding why these changes occurred. In two experiments, using a range of hypothetical and real products, we find that consumers' preferences for current product formulations are influenced by prior formulations and that changes in consumer preference are more extreme for feature removals than for feature additions. We further find that consumers attribute feature additions to causes that are more external to the firm and more stable over time than those for feature removals. Consumers' product evaluations are more negative when the cause of a feature removal is attributed more internally to the firm. However, consumers' product evaluations are not significantly affected by their attributions for feature additions. Finally, the degree to which the changing feature is linked to a brands' equity moderates these findings.