Technological innovations, e.g. new hardware or software products, evolve through lifecycles comprised of multiple phases. At each of these phases, different types of uncertainty exist that confound the decision making processes of potential technology adopters. In order to diffuse this uncertainty, technology-producing firms emit different types of market signals. This paper develops a model to explain firms’ signaling efforts as they correspond to the uncertainties experienced at the various phases of the innovation life cycle. The paper identifies three types of uncertainty associated with different phases of the innovation lifecycle: i) Technology uncertainty, ii) Marketplace uncertainty, and iii) Standards uncertainty. Different categories of corporate strategic market signals corresponding to these three types of uncertainty are identified. The relationship between the nature of the uncertainty experienced and firms’ signaling efforts is proposed to be moderated by whether the firm is a technology leader or not.
['Viet Dao']
Strategic Corporate Market Signaling Behavior in Different Technological Innovation Phases.