The impact of a pioneer brand on competition among later entrants

Based on the chronicity literature, this research suggests that the impact of a pioneer brand goes beyond the immediate context of pioneerfollower competition, but may be extended to the pattern of competition among later entrants. The current research presents evidence indicating that the attribute on which a pioneer is defined (i.e., a unique or superior attribute), becomes highly accessible in the consumer's mind, receives superior recall and importance ratings, and is regularly used to evaluate and select follower brands in the product category. Consistent with the accessibility-diagnosticity model, the findings further indicate that a follower brand can successfully prime an alternative attribute and increase product evaluation, given that the brand is superior on the primed attribute, when the defining attribute is not diagnostic.