New research from York University’s Schulich School of Business explores how business managers can best time the launch of new technologies. The study shows that product launch timing is a social game of poise and tact when engaging with external partners. Researchers found that offering sufficient time before a new technology launch signals consideration, respect and mindfulness. Alternatively, not offering enough time gets in the way of the public getting to know and feel comfortable around a new technology before its launch.
The findings are contained in the paper titled “Timing Legitimacy: Identifying the Optimal Moment to Launch Technology in the Market,” which was recently published in the Journal of Marketing. The article was co-written by Ela Veresiu, an associate professor of marketing at Schulich, together with Thomas Derek Robinson, a senior lecturer in marketing at Bayes Business School in London.
The authors found that timing a new technology launch is structured by two dimensions: the degrees of firm-led co-ordination and a partner’s willingness to change. Combining the two factors, they identified antagonistic, synergistic, flexible and inflexible timing situations that managers can face.
On the one hand, antagonistic timing is a delegitimate launch moment that involves low firm-led co-ordination and low partner willingness to change. Synergistic timing, on the other hand, entails high firm-led co-ordination and high partner willingness to change, resulting in a legitimate launch moment as both parties share their opinions about the optimal timing for launch. Flexible and inflexible timing are both situations of transition to market readiness led either by partners or the firm.
Without actionable frameworks to ensure consumers and partners are ready, the researchers stress that innovation releases remain a risky endeavour. As such, they provide a detailed managerial decision tree outlining how to create the optimal technology product launch moment – and explain how to course correct if a launch doesn’t go as planned.
“Market timing suggests that managers can rebirth ‘phoenix’ markets by revisiting what was previously an undesirable technology,” says Veresiu. “If an innovation’s initial launch fails, it can be successfully relaunched at a more opportune moment to arise from its own ashes.”
According to Veresiu, “Owners of failed innovations can benefit from our framework by recouping lost [research and development] costs, just as it can substantially reduce risk for companies on the forefront of technological innovation.”