| Multinational diffusion of innovations is an increasingly important topic from both theoretical and managerial perspectives. From the theoretical perspective, a limited number of studies have focused on multinational diffusion of innovations, and these mostly concentrated on developed rather than developing countries. From the managerial perspective, as firms become more involved in global business, understanding how innovations are accepted in new markets becomes imperative. The purpose in this dissertation is to examine the impact of macro level globalization drivers (trade volume, foreign direct investment and income) on the diffusion of consumer durable products in both developed and developing countries. The model is based on the Generalized Bass Model, where the covariates are the globalization drives. Data for four consumer durable products (compact disc player, home computer, mobile phone and video camera) in twenty-two developed and twenty-one developing countries are analyzed using the Augmented Kalman Filter with Continuous State and Discrete Observations methodology. The results suggest that the macro level globalization drivers effect the diffusion of innovations process in a similar manner in developed and developing countries. Yet, significantly different diffusion parameters in developed and developing countries suggest that the diffusion patterns in developed and developing countries are not similar. It should also be noted that diffusion of innovations happens faster in both developed and developing countries due to increasing coefficient of innovation over time. |
