Recent research advocates the importance of emotions in new product development. We investigate whether initial exposure to either a hedonic or utilitarian description of an innovation increases willingness to try the innovation. We extend Wood and Moreau's (2006) expectations-emotions-evaluation model to include the role of arousal, perceived risk (a negative evaluation), and willingness to try. We find that the model is significantly different for hedonic and utilitarian descriptions of a radical innovation (automated highway). We also find that the effect of arousal on positive (optimism) and negative (anxiety) emotions is greater for hedonic rather than utilitarian descriptions. Finally, we replicate our results using real-world descriptions of two radical innovations. We discuss our results and provide managerial implications and limitations of our research.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of emotional brand attachment in consumers’ evaluation of new products that represent technological innovation. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative study was conducted using survey data from a nationally representative probability sample of US consumers (n = 624) to understand the role of emotional brand attachment in the context of consumers’ evaluation of really new products (RNPs). A framework was developed and tested using structural equation modeling that included emotional brand attachment, brand trust, product incongruity, product familiarity, perceived risk, willingness to try, product evaluation and word-of-mouth intentions. Findings The results support the role of emotional brand attachment in the diffusion of RNPs. Specifically, results indicated that increased brand attachment reduces consumers’ perceived risk associated with a RNP and increases brand trust. Both constructs played a key role in shaping willingness to try the innovation, word-of-mouth intentions and product evaluation. Findings of this paper add explanatory power to demand-prediction models that more accurately describe the mechanism of the innovation adoption process. For marketing managers, the results emphasize the importance of consumer–brand emotional connections. Research limitations/implications The paper used a cross-sectional design; it would be interesting to use a longitudinal design to examine if the role of emotional brand attachment changes over time and how the changes might impact consumers’ perceptions and behaviors in the context of RNPs. Originality/value This is the first paper to explore the role of emotional brand attachment in the context of RNPs and consumers’ potential behavioral outcomes.

Radical product innovations are often agents of creative destruction. They threaten to destroy existing market positions, and yet they often yield vast new market opportunities. This article examines how competitors respond to the introduction of radical product innovations. The authors argue that competitive response to radical product innovations is inherently different from response to the incremental innovations that are typically studied in existing research. They introduce the dual concepts of market expansion and entry thresholds to develop new hypotheses about competitive response. Some of these hypotheses contradict prior literature. Using objective data from the U.S. pharmaceutical industry between 1997 and 2001, they estimate a shared-frailty hazard model to explain the competitive response to radical product innovations. The results show that the likelihood of competitive response is substantially higher when the introducing firm is large or market dependent. Moreover, the response is highest when the innovation is introduced in a small market by a large firm. These results contradict those from much prior research on competitive response to product innovation.

The rapid growth in consumers' adoption of social networking sites revolutionized the marketing landscape, transforming the way brands communicate with their customers. At the same time, the widespread popularity of social networking sites raised major concerns about the privacy and security of users' personal information on these platforms. Drawing on social identity, and privacy calculus theories, this study examines the roles of consumer-social networking site relational dimensions, namely personal information disclosure and social networking sites identification as drivers of consumer brand engagement on social networking sites-hosted brand pages. We show that the extent of consumer-social networking site identification and the degree to which consumers disclose personal information on a social networking site affect their engagement with other brands hosted on that platform.Online survey data collected from a nationally representative sample of US consumers (n = 506) and empirically tested through structural equation modeling provide overall support to the proposed model. This study contributes to the literature by being the first to empirically demonstrate the spillover effects of consumer-social networking site relational attributes to online consumer brand engagement. The findings provide guidance to marketing managers seeking to increase brand engagement on social media.

Radical product innovations are often agents of creative destruction. They threaten to destroy existing market positions, and yet they often yield vast new market opportunities. This article examines how competitors respond to the introduction of radical product innovations. The authors argue that competitive response to radical product innovations is inherently different from response to the incremental innovations that are typically studied in existing research. They introduce the dual concepts of market expansion and entry thresholds to develop new hypotheses about competitive response. Some of these hypotheses contradict prior literature. Using objective data from the U.S. pharmaceutical industry between 1997 and 2001, they estimate a shared-frailty hazard model to explain the competitive response to radical product innovations. The results show that the likelihood of competitive response is substantially higher when the introducing firm is large or market dependent. Moreover, the response is highest when the innovation is introduced in a small market by a large firm. These results contradict those from much prior research on competitive response to product innovation.