THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC NICHES IN CREATING LARGE-SCALE APPLICATIONS FOR HIGH-TECH PRODUCTS

摘要

This article focuses on strategic niches, i.e. market niches prior to large-scale applications of radically new high-tech products. A market niche refers to a relatively small group of customers with specific wants and demands regarding a product. Market niches can be distinguished in mature markets but we focus on market niches prior to the emergence of mature markets. These so-called strategic niches are important because they are a first step in creating large-scale applications. The goal of the article is to explore these niches, to explain why they emerge and to indicate how niche strategies can be formulated by analyzing the market. The article fills a scientific gap since the literature about strategic niches is anecdotal, skewed towards electronics and does not distinguish causes for these niches. Managerially, for a company trying to commercialize a radically new high-tech product, it is highly relevant to preview whether direct large-scale diffusion or diffusion in niches is likely after the first introduction. In the latter case it is important to indicate what strategic niche strategy should be adopted as a first step towards large-scale applications. Five research questions are answered: 1) How often do strategic niches appear? 2) How often do specific types of strategic niches appear? 3) Do the number and type of strategic niches depend on the industry? 4) What are the main causes that make strategic niches appear (in general)? 5) What are the main niche strategies and what are the factors indicating when to apply a particular niche strategy? Using historical data, we investigated 72 niches for 37 products in 3 industries: (1) 'Chemicals, materials and metals'; (2) 'Pharmaceuticals and healthcare'; and (3) 'Telecommunication and media'. For each product, we carefully tracked the time of introduction in subsequent niches. Results indicate that in almost 75% of the cases, strategic niches appeared first (rather than direct large-scale diffusion). Strategic niches with business customers emerge most often, followed niches for public customers (governmental institutes) and for consumer households. The industry is shown to have a significant effect on the type and number of strategic niches. We identified factors explaining the emergence of strategic niches. The implications of the results are considerable: they show how managers can choose particular niche strategies to create a large-scale market for their products.