Innovative Responses to Copycats: Insights From China's Restaurant Industry
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In: International Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 27, No. 5, e70103, 01.09.2025.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Innovative Responses to Copycats
T2 - Insights From China's Restaurant Industry
AU - Kai, He
AU - Lyu, Chan
AU - Damberg, Svenja
AU - Ye, Tao
AU - Herstatt, Cornelius
AU - Liu, Yide
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2025/9/1
Y1 - 2025/9/1
N2 - This study delves into a pressing issue in the restaurant industry: the challenge of catering copycats, which are unauthorized imitations of menu items and services that can lead to lost market share and hinder innovation. Focusing on Chinese restaurants, it employs multi-wave surveys and analyzes 929 responses to investigate the impact of copycat threats on innovation. The study reveals both linear and nonlinear effects of these threats, highlighting the role of customer and supplier co-creation as mediators. It underscores the importance of understanding how different types of restaurants vary in their innovative responses to imitation. The research enriches the behavior of the firm theory by demonstrating how restaurants can proactively drive innovation in the face of imitation. It extends the applicability of value co-creation theory, illustrating the role of interactions with suppliers and customers in shaping innovative strategies, thereby enhancing dynamic capabilities to adapt to market demands and changes.
AB - This study delves into a pressing issue in the restaurant industry: the challenge of catering copycats, which are unauthorized imitations of menu items and services that can lead to lost market share and hinder innovation. Focusing on Chinese restaurants, it employs multi-wave surveys and analyzes 929 responses to investigate the impact of copycat threats on innovation. The study reveals both linear and nonlinear effects of these threats, highlighting the role of customer and supplier co-creation as mediators. It underscores the importance of understanding how different types of restaurants vary in their innovative responses to imitation. The research enriches the behavior of the firm theory by demonstrating how restaurants can proactively drive innovation in the face of imitation. It extends the applicability of value co-creation theory, illustrating the role of interactions with suppliers and customers in shaping innovative strategies, thereby enhancing dynamic capabilities to adapt to market demands and changes.
KW - co-creation
KW - copycats
KW - dynamic capability
KW - problemistic search
KW - service innovation
KW - Tourism studies
KW - Management studies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105015331169&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/jtr.70103
DO - 10.1002/jtr.70103
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:105015331169
VL - 27
JO - International Journal of Tourism Research
JF - International Journal of Tourism Research
SN - 1099-2340
IS - 5
M1 - e70103
ER -