Title: Managing uncertainty in the marketing of new-technology products

Authors: Matthias Fink, Dietmar Roessl, Sascha Kraus, Seppo Hanninen, Antti Ainamo

Addresses: Department of Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria. ' RICC – Research Institute for Co-operation and Co-operatives, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria. ' RICC – Research Institute for Co-operation and Co-operatives, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria. ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland. ' IASM – Institutions and Social Mechanisms, University of Turku, Finland

Abstract: In this paper, we work to systematise the kinds of uncertainty inherent in the marketing of a new technology product. Our frame is based on the idea that uncertainty can be categorised along dimensions such as the uncertainty about the product, requiring to develop the product as an exchange good, and the uncertainty related to the environment, requiring to develop the product as a product-service complex and relationship. The paper identifies measures and strategies concerning why and how the enterprise and the client ought to manage their relationship, specifying distinctions between environments that are low and high in uncertainty.

Keywords: new technology; product marketing; uncertainty; exchange; contract; confidence; trust; technology intelligence; technology marketing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTIP.2008.017404

International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, 2008 Vol.4 No.1, pp.79 - 94

Published online: 04 Mar 2008 *

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