Essays on the turning points of the product life cycle

This dissertation examines how and why diffusion of new products varies across products, countries and time. The word product refers to a product category and not the brand.; Chapter 1 gives an overview of the three essays that form part of the dissertation.; The first essay in Chapter 2 is a critical review of the literature on models of the diffusion of new products and turning points of the diffusion curve. It critically examines the characteristics, models and drivers of new product growth, delineates turning points of the diffusion curve---takeoff and slowdown, and discovers important potential generalizations to describe empirical findings with substantial support.; The second essay in Chapter 3 examines how and why time-to-takeoff vary across major economies, whether these differences are constant or varying over time, and, if varying, is time-to-takeoff converging or diverging across countries? These issues are examined using a heterogeneous sample of 31 countries from different cultural clusters across 16 categories over time. On this metric of time-to-takeoff, Japan, is the most innovative country, followed by Nordic and Anglo American countries. While takeoff has been held previously to be a purely cultural phenomenon, this essay finds that both economics and culture are dominant drivers of time-to-takeoff. Most importantly, time-to-takeoff is shortening over time and converging across countries.; The third essay in Chapter 4 examines the second turning point in product sales---Slowdown, which leads to a trough in sales, termed as the 'Saddle'. This essay integrates and distinguishes between rival explanations for the Saddle-Business cycles, Chasms in adopter segments, and Information Cascades. A Saddle in sales occurs in 109 of 160 product-country combinations from 12 new products in 18 countries. The drivers of the occurrence of the Saddle are tested via a discrete-time-hazard model. The results find support for recessions, negative cascades and important technological changes but not chasms in adopter segments as drivers of the Saddle.