Track description

In today's highly competitive landscape, companies are driven towards continuous innovation, introducing novel products/services systems to capture consumer attention and increasing their market share. However, launching truly innovative offerings presents a unique set of strategic challenges for companies as it requires a fundamentally different approach to consumer engagement. Driving managers to ask themselves how they can effectively build consumer relationships and how they may drive adoption for products that are, by their very nature, unfamiliar and potentially disruptive to existing routines.

This track directly addresses this critical challenge from such managerial perspective. It wants to explore the strategies, frameworks, and best practices that companies can employ to successfully navigate the complexities of launching and marketing innovative products in the modern markets. We focus on the proactive steps businesses must take to educate, engage, and persuade consumers to embrace their novelties. This includes overcoming inherent resistance to change, building trust in unfamiliar brands or technologies, and effectively communicating the value proposition of offerings that may redefine existing categories or create entirely new ones.

We would like to explore how businesses can effectively bridge the gap between cutting-edge advancements and consumer understanding, welcoming contributions that explore the related multifaceted aspects including works on the following topics:

● Consumer Perception of Innovation: Understanding how consumers perceive, evaluate, and react to new-to-the-world products and services.

● Communication Strategies for Novelty: Effective messaging and storytelling to articulate the value and benefits of innovative offerings.

● Building Trust and Credibility: Addressing consumer skepticism and building confidence in unfamiliar products and brands.

● Overcoming Adoption Barriers: Strategies to mitigate consumer resistance and facilitate the smooth integration of innovations into daily life.

● Marketing and Branding for Innovation: Crafting unique brand identities and marketing campaigns that resonate with early adopters and mainstream consumers.

● Leveraging Digital Channels for Engagement: Utilizing online platforms, social media, and digital tools to connect with and educate potential customers. ● Consumer Feedback and Co-creation in Innovation: Incorporating consumer insights into the development and refinement of innovative products.

● Ethical Considerations in Marketing Novelty: Ensuring responsible and transparent communication about the benefits and limitations of new technologies.

We encourage submissions employing diverse methodologies, including empirical studies, case analyses, conceptual frameworks, and best practice reviews, from scholar studying disciplines such as marketing, consumer behavior, innovation management, communication studies, and design thinking.