This paper examines how waiting to imitate a product affects the performance of the imitator compared to the innovator. Specifically, we address two research questions. Under what conditions does imitation erode the advantage of the innovator? What strategies of imitators help overcome the...

The ontology of marketing, particularly the question of what products and brands are, is still largely unexplored. The ontological status of brands hinges on their relationship with products. Idealists about brands see perceptual or cognitive acts of consumers grouped under the heading 'brand...

In this paper, we propose an approach to show how the capability-based perspective of the resource-based view of the firm can be integrated with the comparative-governance approach of transaction cost economics to shed light on governance issues in interfirm relationships. We argue that...

Some firms that operate in multiple product markets use the same brand in different markets, while others use distinct brands. This research investigates for which product markets a firm should use the same or different brands, and how this decision depends on the relatedness between product...

May 20, 2019 witnessed the promulgation of a judgement by the United States Supreme Court which settled a circuit split created by the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and answered a question which was the subject of quandary for the American legal fraternity for more than 35 years. A...

Brand competition is modelled using an agent based approach in order to examine the long run dynamics of market structure and brand characteristics. A repeated game is designed where myopic rms choose strategies based on beliefs about their rivals and consumers. Consumers are heterogeneous and...

Today, we have a two-tiered trademark system. In the top tier, both parties can afford to litigate. In the lower tier, only one party can. This two-tiered system has arisen over the last century because courts refused to follow the law. Faced with trademark law that led to seemingly unjust...

We revisit an endogenous timing game with consumers who are heterogeneous in their willingness to pay (WTP). Previous studies have shown that when firms compete in quantity, a simultaneous moving outcome (leader-leader) must be presented in equilibrium. In contrast to this result, we find that...

Over the course of the twentieth century, entrepreneurs developed a number of successful global brands in consumer-goods industries. However, few independent brands survived the merger waves of the 1980s. To address the question of why so few independent brands survived, this paper examines...

Patent expiration represents a turning point for the brand losing patent protection as bioequivalent generic versions of the drug quickly enter the market at reduced prices. In this paper, we study how physician characteristics and their prescribing decisions impact the competition among...