Guest Lecture: Berk Talay

Launching New Products During Recessions: Insights from the U.K. FMCG and U.S. Automobile Industries

Berk Talay is professor at the department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, Manning School of Business, University of Massachusetts Lowell. He is currently Fulbright Fellow at CY AS, invited by ESSEC

In the landscape of economic downturns, a pressing question for businesses is the strategic timing of new product launches: Are products introduced during a recession likely to be more successful, and does the depth of the economic downturn influence these outcomes? Furthermore, is there a more favorable phase within a recession to launch a new product? These questions, fundamental to effective managerial decision-making, remain largely uncharted in contemporary marketing studies.
To bridge this gap, our study embarks on a detailed examination of two comprehensive datasets. First, we analyze 8,981 product introductions across 20 fast-moving consumer goods categories in the United Kingdom, spanning a period of 18 years. Second, we examine the historical trajectory of the United States automotive industry, analyzing 1,071 product launches over a 63-year timeframe.
The results reveal products launched (a) during a recession and (b) later rather than earlier in the recession survive longer, while more severe recessions are associated with shorter survival. This paper thus enriches marketing theory on recessions by conceptualizing and quantifying timing effects on new product launch success. For businesses, the insights drawn from this study emphasize the strategic merits of adopting a counter-cyclical approach to product launches during economic downturns.

Date: 5 December 2023 from 15:00 to 16:30

The hybrid guest lecture is organised in person at the H008 Meeting Room of MIR in Neuville-sur-Oise and remotely on Zoom.

To attend the remote guest lecture, please connect to Zoom: https://cyu-fr.zoom.us/j/91398173209

Meeting ID: 913 9817 3209

The video will be online on the CY AS YouTube channel