Agent-based stimulating diffusion of green products. Behavioural characteristics of consumers and firms

Seminararbeit , 2013 , 32 Seiten , Note: 2

VWL - Innovationsökonomik

The following paper focuses on the agent-based simulation of the diffusion process for green products, i.e. environmentally friendly products that are gaining in importance during the last years. As a basis the article written by Janssen and Jager (2002) is being examined and described in detail. It works with simulating both consumers and firms, whose behavioural characteristics are different and play a significant role in the diffusion process. On the one hand the behavioural characteristics, social processing and status seeking of the consumers and on the other hand the flexibility of firms concerning the adaptation to new technologies is being modelled.

The aim of the study is to show how these behavioural characteristics influence the diffusion process, where the most interesting result has shown that the adaptation of firms to new technologies has a significant impact on group of consumers adapting the green innovation in an early phase. The results also revealed that the diffusion process is faster for deliberate consumers in markets with no adaptability to new technologies than in markets where the adaptation takes place. Moreover the paper also gives an overview about similar studies conducted in the field of agent-based simulations of diffusion processes.

Finally these studies are critically compared with the basic article in order to come up with further research possibilities. These include incorporating the effects of marketing activities and the use of strategies appealing to environmental consciousness on the diffusion process as well as studying the phenomenon of overadoption of an innovation.

Table of content

ABSTRACT

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BACKGROUND
2.1. GREEN PRODUCTS
2.2. EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND STATISTICS
2.3. TRANSITION FROM INDUSTRIAL TO SERVICE ECONOMY
2.3.1. Consumer behaviour
2.3.2. Lock-in effects
2.3.3. Governmental strategies
2.3.4. Diffusion dynamics

3. DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

4. METHODOLOGY APPLIED
4.1. AGENT-BASED SIMULATIONS
4.2. SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS

5. THE SIMULATION MODEL OF CO-EVOLVING FIRMS AND CONSUMERS
5.1. MODEL STRUCTURE
5.1.1. Simulation of firm behaviour (nF)
5.1.2. Simulation of consumer behaviour (nC)

6. RESULTS OF THE MODEL EXPERIMENTS
6.1. FIXED PRODUCT RANGE
6.2. DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTS
6.3. SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS

7. SIMILAR STUDIES
7.1. OVERVIEW OF SIMILAR STUDIES
7.2. METHODOLOGY USED IN SIMILAR STUDIES

8. CONCLUSION

• Hochschule: Universität Wien (Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre)
• Veranstaltung: Recent Developments in Innovation and Technology Management
• Note: 2
• Autoren: Alexandra Barokova (Autor:in), Miroslava Jergušová (Autor:in)
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2013
• Seiten: 32
• Katalognummer: V340146
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668298842
• ISBN (Buch): 9783668298859
• Sprache: Englisch
• Schlagworte: agent-based, behavioural