A literature review shows that launching new product features is an under-researched area. A multiple case study involving 38 managers from different functional backgrounds was used, thereby investigating the feature introductions of eight companies in-depth. Dictatorship companies launch feature innovations that are based on fundamentally new technologies. Pioneers are not as powerful as dictators and focus on features that are based on applied and proven rather than on fundamentally new technologies. Establishers copy and improve successful features and launch them quickly and broadly as a standard in mass markets.
Followers launch standard features that already existed in the mass market.
These four strategies describe how the firms in our sample launched new features in the marketplace. As such, they describe when and where in the product line what feature was introduced. Such a typology of feature launch strategies helps to proactively understand the strategies firms have for launching new product features. The article discusses for each strategy the relevant feature launch decisions, possible applications, and opportunities and pitfalls. We conclude with the implications of our study for research and managerial practice.