How Do Adopters Transition Between New and Incumbent Channels?

56 Pages Posted: 30 Dec 2009 Last revised: 7 Jun 2016

See all articles by Eric M. Overby

Eric M. Overby

Georgia Institute of Technology

Sam Ransbotham

Boston College - Carroll School of Management

Date Written: May 17, 2016

Abstract

There is substantial knowledge about how individuals and organizations – which we refer to collectively as entities – adopt and use new channels. However, less is known about how this relates to their use of the incumbent channel that the new channel may replace, particularly how this relationship varies across entities and over time. We study this both theoretically and empirically. First, we develop and validate a new typology of how entities’ use of new and incumbent channels evolves over time. Second, we generate novel insights about the post-adoption use behaviors of entities that adopt the new channel at approximately the same time. Third, we analyze how entities’ use of new and incumbent channels varies based on time of entry, which is when an entity first becomes active with either channel. Fourth, we identify and validate other explanatory variables for why entities transition between states of new/incumbent channel use. Our results contribute to theory about the adoption/diffusion of new channels, and they contribute to practice by giving managers tools to understand and predict how entities’ use of new and incumbent channels evolves over time.

Keywords: New channel, incumbent channel, diffusion, adoption, heterogeneity, dynamics, automotive, pro-innovation bias.

Suggested Citation

Overby, Eric M. and Ransbotham, Sam, How Do Adopters Transition Between New and Incumbent Channels? (May 17, 2016). Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business Research Paper No. 2016-51, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1529288 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1529288

Eric M. Overby (Contact Author)

Georgia Institute of Technology ( email )

800 West Peachtree St., NW
Atlanta, GA 30308-1149
United States

Sam Ransbotham

Boston College - Carroll School of Management ( email )

140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.SamRansbotham.com

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