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Messung und Wirkung von Netzeffekten in der ökonomischen Forschung

Eine kritische Analyse der empirischen Literatur

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Zusammenfassung

Netzeffekte sind entscheidend für das Marketing vieler Güter. Aufbauend auf grundlegenden Konzepten zur Theorie der Netzeffekte liefert der Beitrag eine Übersicht der durchgeführten Messungen und stellt den Stand der empirischen Forschung über die Wirkung von Netzeffekten dar. Darauf aufbauend werden praktische Implikationen für Manager und Wissenschaftler abgeleitet. Der Fokus der dargestellten Empirie liegt dabei auf den Endkonsumenten, da diese für das Marketing besonders relevant sind. Die Ergebnisse werden für unterschiedliche Märkte separat analysiert, da die existierenden Netzeffekte und somit deren Wirkungen entscheidend von der marktspezifischen Ausgestaltung moderierender Effekte abhängen. Generell ist der Nachweis der Existenz von Netzeffekten problemlos möglich, jedoch fehlen trotz der Vielzahl von Studien allgemeingültige Handlungsempfehlungen für das Marketing bzw. Innovationsmanagement von Netzeffektgütern.

Abstract

Network externalities influence marketing strategies for many innovative goods. We show how network externalities have been measured for specific industries in prior research and compare the various theoretical and empirical results in this paper. Our analysis focuses on research explicitly addressing the effects of network externalities on consumer’s behaviour. Based on the overview of empirical findings we develop implications for managers and scientists and discuss shortcomings of the prior research. Our analysis separates the findings in the respective industries to synthesize the various effects of direct and indirect network externalities. We find strong empirical support for the existence of network externalities, but identify substantial research opportunities.

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  1. Lehrstuhl für Marketing und Medienmanagement, Institut für Marketing und Medien, Universität Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 5, 20146, Hamburg, Deutschland

    Michel Clement

  2. Lehrstuhl für Betriebswirtschaftslehre mit Schwerpunkt Marketing und Services, Universität Passau, Innstraße 27, 94032, Passau, Deutschland

    Thomas Schollmeyer

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Clement, M., Schollmeyer, T. Messung und Wirkung von Netzeffekten in der ökonomischen Forschung . J Betriebswirtsch 58, 173–207 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-008-0041-7

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