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The Co‐Diffusion of Complementary Innovations: Supermarket Scanners and UPC Symbols
Author(s) -
Bucklin Louis P.,
Sengupta Sanjit
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of product innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1540-5885
pISSN - 0737-6782
DOI - 10.1111/1540-5885.1020148
Subject(s) - diffusion , commercialization , business , value (mathematics) , product (mathematics) , marketing , industrial organization , differential effects , phenomenon , computer science , mathematics , physics , medicine , geometry , machine learning , thermodynamics , quantum mechanics
Co‐diffusion is the positive interaction between the demands for complementary innovations that have separate adoption tracks. This interaction is of growing importance to business strategy because a firm can facilitate the diffusion of an innovation by supporting and participating in the development and commercialization of related complementary technologies. This phenomenon is of special importance where connectivity among products is central to end‐user value. Louis P. Bucklin and Sanjit Sengupta report results of their empirical investigation of the co‐diffusion of laser scanners in supermarkets and Universal Product Code (UPC) symbols printed on the packages of stocked items. Their results show asymmetric two‐way co‐diffusion effects between these innovations. Co‐diffusion effects are found to be stronger than innovation effects. Finally, the analysis reveals differential co‐diffusion effects across major market segments.