Rejection Behavior Prior New Product Evaluation: Examining Occurrence and Determinants of Passive Innovation Rejections

摘要

The launch of new products represents a strategic imperative in today's economies. Unfortunately, new products face a severe risk of failure. More specifically, past literature reports high failure rates for innovations, ranging around 50%. Innovations can only become successful in the market if they are accepted and finally adopted by consumers. Most new products, however, fail as they are rejected by consumers due to their resistance to innovation. The importance of innovation rejection behaviour Jias been acknowledged both by scientific research and management practice. Past research differentiates passive innovation rejections, i.e. rejection behavior that happens rather unconsciously prior new product evaluation, from active innovation rejections, i.e. rejection behavior that happens after deliberate new product evaluation. While several studies have examined active innovation rejections, no empirical study yet has investigated passive innovation rejection behaviour. Thus, empirical evidence for its existence and its determinants is still missing: Yet, prior research suggests that a significant amount of the US$135 billion spent each year in the United States on marketing new products that ultimately fail, is wasted due to passive innovation rejections. A better understanding of passive innovation rejection behavior would thus not only contribute to adoption theory, but also help managers develop effective measures to fuel the adoption process and avoid misallocating resources.