5. Discussion and implications
In this research, the authors investigate how DMC affect product innovation strategy and an organization's ability to perform in the market, as reflected by its market share. Prior research suggests that DMC such as brand equity and R&D expenditure have a positive effect on product innovation and marketing performance; however, this research shows some subtle but significant differences in these effects for different types of market players and product innovation strategies. Specifically, the results about H1 show that R&D expenditure has a stronger positive effect on market share for MNC brands compared to SME and retailer brands, however, in contrast, the results for H2 show that brand equity has a stronger effect on market share for SME brands than the MNC and retailer brands. In fact, brand equity also has a weaker effect on market share for MNC brands compared to retailer brands. This may seem counter-intuitive because MNCs are supposed to possess strong mega brands that should have a stronger positive impact on their market share. However, from these results it seems that in the context of innovative food products, having strong brand equity may actually hurt MNC brands because consumers may perceive them as being too traditional or associated more with their conventional products.
