Abstract
How do intellectual propriety rights (IPRs) help firms profit from their innovation? Innovation literature frequently turns to patents to measure innovative IPR, but more recent work shifts focus to the other side of IPR, namely, trademarks. This article therefore discusses the effects of trademark strategies when companies decide to introduce their product portfolios in a new foreign market. Entrants might opt for a common trademark across different country markets (integration) or use several country-specific trademarks (responsiveness). This empirical study exploits the quasi-natural experiment created by the tariff shock that affected Spain when it joined the European Union in the 1990s. Data from the automotive industry reveal how non-European companies that already operated in other European countries sought to enter Spain rapidly, using various trademark strategies. The product portfolio characteristics are fixed at entry, so this study can specify how and when trademark responsiveness versus integration affects firm performance. The results reveal that trademark responsiveness increases firm performance if the firms suffer high liabilities of foreignness or newness.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 11-21 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Research Policy |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2019 |
Keywords
- Automotive industry
- Diversification
- European trademarks
- Foreign market penetration
- Performance
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Strategy and Management
- Management Science and Operations Research
- Management of Technology and Innovation