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Characteristics of the Industrial Distributor's Innovation Activities
Author(s) -
Yoon Eunsang,
Lilien Gary L.
Publication year - 1988
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 - 10.1111/1540-5885.530227
Subject(s) - distributor , business , product (mathematics) , industrial organization , marketing , new product development , product innovation , exploratory research , distribution (mathematics) , manufacturing engineering , engineering , mechanical engineering , mathematical analysis , geometry , mathematics , sociology , anthropology
Recent trends in industrial distribution suggest that distributors may perform an important role in various stages of product innovation from idea generation, through product design, to product launch and subsequent marketing. In this article, Eunsang Yoon and Gary Lilien review the literature and discuss the potential role of the industrial distributor as an innovation participant. An exploratory study with an Australian data base suggests that the industrial distributor performs tasks associated with market‐driven product innovation (reformulation and imitative new products in particular) as effectively as the industrial manufacturer.