Author's Personal Copy Important Research Questions in Technology and Innovation

In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: 1. Introduction Consumers today have a better standard of living than consumers had a decade ago and much better off than consumers had a hundred years ago. That improvement is due to technological innovation. The landscape of firms in high tech markets steadily changes. Firms that stand still face the danger of decline and extinction. Firms that innovate grow to dominate their markets. The force that facilitates this change is technological innovation. Today, as in prior eras, the wealth of nations is driven not so much by their possession of raw materials, but by how they or the firms within their borders translate those resources into superior products and services through technological innovation. Thus, technological innovation is a critical driver of the improvement in consumers' living standards, the survival, growth, and success of firms, and the wealth of nations. Understanding innovation is of great importance because of its huge impact at these three levels of consumers, firms, and nations. Researchers in a vast number of disciplines have studied various aspects of technological innovation. However, those in marketing have a unique advantage. Adopting a consumer orientation helps in understanding technological evolution because all innovations ultimately aim to produce better products for consumer welfare. Thus researchers in marketing have a unique vantage point in researching and understanding this phenomenon. This essay aims to point out some important research questions in technological innovation from a marketing perspective. 2. How do technologies evolve? A commonly observed phenomenon in innovation is that one technology seems to replace another. For example today, digital photography is replacing film photography and online air reservation is replacing travel agencies. In printing, ink-jet and laser technologies replaced dot matrix printing, but both are steadily improving in performance. Which one will win or will thermal printing replace both? Will fuel cells or Lithium-ion batteries win the new technological race in the automobile engine market? A change in technology involves huge costs of equipment, training, and management for firms. More importantly, transitions in technologies often cause the demise of or at least the tripping up of giant incumbents. Thus, predicting the path of technological evolution can be a great advantage for an …