Substitute or Complement? Exploring the Market Impact of New Product Introductions in High-Tech Markets

摘要

Managers assess a host of factors when deciding if and when to introduce new products into the marketplace. One of these decisions is the effect that the product will have on other existing products. Conventional wisdom suggests that introducing a new product will cannibalize the sales of other products. But there are numerous reasons to suggest that introducing a new product may help the sales of other products, for example by bring new customers into the industry or helping to build networked externalities. We develop two research questions regarding the impact of new products introductions. Our first research question is whether new products introduced in high-tech markets serve as a substitute or complement to other existing products in the marketplace. The second research question investigates contextual factors (moderators) that determine the extent to which new products exhibit indirect effects.