Much Ado about Nothing?- The Influence of Functional Food on Profitability of German Food Industry.

Product innovation is a competitive strategy in food industry. Successful product development management is a key determinant of a firm?s performance. In recent years functional foods, which are innovative food products that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition, have become increasingly important in Germany. Using the structure-conductperformance approach it can be argued that product innovation raises barriers to entry and thus improve profitability. This study examines the effect of functional food innovative activity (compared to overall innovative activity) on the profitability of 23 German food industry sectors from 1995 to 1999. Panel data analysis also includes concentration, firm size, market size and growth, advertising expenditure and capital intensity. While a positive relationship between product introduction and profitability was hypothesized, it is not supported by data. --product innovation,functional food,market structure,profitability,structureconduct-performance approach,food industry,panel data analysis

Marktstruktur, Innovationsaktivität und Profitabilität der deutschen Ernährungswirtschaft: Das Beispiel Functional Food.

Innovative gesundheitsförderliche Lebensmittel, sogenannte Functional Food, haben in den letzten Jahren in Deutschland zunehmende Bedeutung gewonnen. Auf der Basis des Struktur-Verhalten-Ergebnis-Ansatzes wird im Rahmen dieser Arbeit für den Zeitraum 1995 bis 1999 empirisch der Einfluss der Marktstruktur auf die allgemeine Innovationsaktivität sowie speziell jene im Functional Food-Segment untersucht. Ferner wird geprüft, inwiefern diese Innovationsaktivitäten die Profitabilität von 23 Branchen des deutschen Ernährungsgewerbes determinieren. -- In recent years functional foods, which are innovative food products that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition, have become increasingly important in Germany. Using the structure-conduct-performance approach this study examines the effect of market structure on overall innovative activity and functional food activity in particular. Furthermore, this paper analyses the influence of these innovative activities on profitability of 23 German food industry sectors from 1995 to 1999.Produktinnovation,Functional Food,Marktstruktur,Profitabilität,Struktur-Verhalten-Ergebnis-Ansatz,Ernährungswirtschaft,Panelanalyse,product innovation,functional food,market structure,profitability,structure-conduct-performance approach,food industry,panel data analysis

Produktdiversifikation und Profitabilität der deutschen Ernährungswirtschaft: Eine theoretische und empirische Betrachtung.

Auf der Basis des Struktur-Verhalten-Ergebnis-Ansatzes kann Diversifikation in ihrer Wirkung als Markteintrittsbarriere verstanden werden und hat als solche einen positiven Einfluss auf die Profitabilität der diversifizierten Unternehmen. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird auf der Basis der vom Statistischen Bundesamt zu 4-stelligen Wirtschaftszweigen aggregierten Daten für den Zeitraum 1977 bis 1994 der Einfluss der Produktdiversifikation auf die Profitabilität von 25 Branchen des deutschen Ernährungsgewerbes untersucht. Es kann ein positiver Einfluss der Diversifikation auf die Profitabilität festgestellt werden. -- Using the structure-conduct-performance approach it can be argued that diversification raises barriers to entry which have a positive influence on the profitability of firms. This study examines the effect of product diversification on the profitability of 25 German food industry sectors from 1977 to 1994. The analysis reveals a positive effect of diversification on the profitability of industries.Struktur-Verhalten-Ergebnis-Ansatz,Produktdiversifikation,Ernährungswirtschaft,Profitabilität,Panelanalyse,structure-conduct-performance approach,product diversification,food industry,profitability,panel data analysis

Market Success of Premium Product Innovation: Empirical Evidence from the German Food Sector.

It is well documented that a large share of new products does not survive their first year in the market. Research reported in this paper examined the relationship between product quality and innovation success. In contrast to existing product innovation literature that focused on industrial goods, this study used food product data from a 2002 German food manufacturing firm survey. Results of Sample Selection Model suggest that premium quality increases product?s success rate. Furthermore, firm size has a significant positive impact on success rate. Intensity of competition as well as retailers? market power reduce product?s success rate. --Product success,innovative behaviour,premium product quality,sample selection,German food industry