Innovation, imitation, and new product performance: The case of China

This paper compares the effects of innovation and imitation strategies on new product performance and examines their contingency across different market conditions in China. The empirical results from a cross-industry survey show that, compared with an imitation strategy, an innovation strategy leads to better new product performance. Furthermore, the benefits of an innovation strategy over an imitation strategy become stronger as market demand is increasingly uncertain, technology changes rapidly, and competition intensifies. The author compares the findings with the predictions put forward in previous Western-based literature and discusses the implications of the findings in light of China's unique market characteristics.