Messung und Wirkung von Netzeffekten in der ökonomischen Forschung

Network externalities influence marketing strategies for many innovative goods. We show how network externalities have been measured for specific industries in prior research and compare the various theoretical and empirical results in this paper. Our analysis focuses on research explicitly addressing the effects of network externalities on consumer's behaviour. Based on the overview of empirical findings we develop implications for managers and scientists and discuss shortcomings of the prior research. Our analysis separates the findings in the respective industries to synthesize the various effects of direct and indirect network externalities. We find strong empirical support for the existence of network externalities, but identify substantial research opportunities. © Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Austria 2008.