erseas. While the market potential is huge, the window of opportunity is short, with largest rewards likely accruing to those who move quickly (within the next two years) into the market.
Astro-Vest will use the most current sales technologies available for the Internet. This strategy is based on the fact that the most profitable software companies in the world use that as a major distribution technique.
It appears that this product is a viable one for export into Japan. The use of this plan should ensure its success.
WITHIN THE THEORY OF DIFFUSED INNOVATION
The consumer item to be exported to Japan is Astro-Vest, a computer program designed to run cross platform on a wide range of computers as dated as an IBM 386 and as recent as a Pentium 200. Astro-Vest was chosen because of its innovation and its reliability as well as the following specific reasons: 1) it is deemed important as a valid adjunct to a personal investment program; 2) it provides interesting marketing possibilities since its purchase relies more on emotional decisions (product and brand loyalty, perceived value, needs and so on) rather than reasoned purchase decisions; 3) unique proprietary software products are noted for high markups and margins and are easy to transport and ship.
In addition to these reasons, the Astro-Vest product scores high on an analysis of its relative advantage based on the theory of diffusion of innovation (Rogers, 1995). The term "innovation" has been defined in many ways. For example Rogers (1995) defines an innovation as an "idea, practice or object perceived as new by a unit of adoption" (11). There are two important points to remember here. First, the innovation must be new to the adopter. This means that a technology may have been in existence for some time, but if it is new to the adopter it is an innovation. The second important point is that an innovation can take many forms including ideas, practices and o...