Internet companies' growth strategies: determinants of investment intensity and long‐term performance
研究了互联网公司早期投资强度的决定因素及其对长期绩效的影响，发现先发企业前期营销投入更高，但网络效应并未导致更高投入；多数公司长期回报为负，但削减营销会恶化结果，表明前期投入接近最优水平。
Abstract To exploit first‐mover advantages, pioneers may be motivated to amass customers before rivals enter the market. Likewise, when they enjoy increasing returns due to network effects, static scale economies, or learning effects, companies have incentives to invest aggressively in growth. This paper presents econometric analysis of factors that determined the intensity of Internet companies' investments in growth, and analyzes the long‐term performance consequences of such investments. Results indicate that first movers spent significantly more on upfront marketing than non‐pioneers. Contrary to expectations, however, firms in markets that exhibited increasing returns did not spend more on their early customer acquisition efforts than other sample companies. Although the typical sample company did not earn positive long‐term returns, heavy early investments in growth were nevertheless economically rational. In most cases, reducing marketing outlays would have worsened a bad outcome, consistent with an inverted ‘U’ relationship between long‐term returns and upfront marketing spending. Thus, the typical sample company invested in marketing, ex ante, at levels close to those that would have maximized returns, observed ex post. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.