Prof. Yu Ma presents at MCCHE Consumer Behavior Webinar Series
An Empirical Analysis of New Product Innovation
Thursday, March 24th, 2016 | 11:00-12:15pm
Yu Ma, Associate Professor, Alberta School of Business
Successful product innovation is vital to many businesses. We propose a conceptual model that examines the success or failure of a food product innovation as a function of its corresponding product strategies (type of innovations), firm characteristics (brand reputation and product specific marketing mixes strategies etc.), and marketplace conditions (marketing size, potentials). We empirically validate our model by estimating a hazard model of new product survival in the yogurt category in Quebec from 2009 to 2012. Our results reveal the impact of various innovation strategies and surrounding context on the degree of success of an innovation. We find: new products targeting at children were much more likely to succeed; marketing planning had an important role – low introductory price was very helpful; health and benefit claim had in general no effects; and there are brand specific advantages – not all firms are equally successful. Our findings can help food manufacturers and brand managers formulate effective product innovation strategies to transform food market toward healthy eating.
