Centered or dispersed? Supporting innovation strategy through a deeper understanding of perceived innovativeness in product portfolios

To support the successful implementation of product innovation strategies, we investigate the role of perceived product portfolio innovativeness (PPPI) and its relationship to a firms brand equity. Besides the overall level of PPPI, our analysis additionally reflects direct and moderating effects of the variation of product innovativeness across the portfolio (DPPPI) and hence offers novel insights into an unexplored aspect of portfolio innovativeness. Moreover, in contrast to previous studies, we apply a novel, consumer-centric measurement approach and overcome potential shortcomings of expert-based methods. The hypothesized relationships are tested on survey-data from 691 respondents. Our results imply a strong positive correlation between PPPI and brand equity which is mitigated by DPPPI. Managerial implications of this finding are discussed

Investigating the Effect of Perceived Product Portfolio Innovativeness on Consumers´ Brand Perceptions

Portfolio innovativeness has been indicated as a crucial aspect of a firm's innovation efforts. However, research traditionally applies a firm-centric conceptualization of portfolio innovativeness, neglecting its signaling effect to consumers. Taking a different route, this article applies a consumer-centric approach to investigate consumer perceptions of portfolio innovativeness as an antecedent of their brand perceptions. We incorporate inconsistent insights on portfolio innovativeness by introducing a novel construct: portfolio innovativeness variety. It describes the degree of novelty concerning different new products and services in a firm's innovation portfolio. Drawing on signaling theory, the results of 691 completed questionnaires show that consumers’ perceived portfolio innovativeness increases consumer-based brand equity. However, portfolio innovativeness variety moderates this relationship negatively. This article explores an inverted U-shaped relationship between portfolio innovativeness variety and brand equity. These insights suggest that large portfolio innovativeness variety confuses consumers about a brand's offerings and that portfolio management should incorporate these insights in order to offer a balanced and value-maximized innovation portfolio. This article offers novel insights into an unexplored aspect of portfolio innovativeness with complementary research on innovation portfolios from a consumer perspective