Following or Running Away from the Market Leader? The Influences of Environmental Uncertainty and Market Leadership

Competitive dynamics theory suggests that rival firms imitate other competing firms with similar resources to maintain competitive parity while are likely to differentiate from the market leader to avoid its dangerous retaliation. According to neo‐institutional theory, in highly uncertain environments, rivals are likely to imitate the market leader because they assume it possesses superior market knowledge. Combining these two lines of argument,...