Coexistence of Dominant Designs: A Consumer Study on Mechanical and Quartz Watches

This study investigates how consumer characteristics affect the value perception and purchase behavior of mechanical and quartz watches in the context of the coexistence of dominant designs in the watch industry. This research extends dominant design theory by making the case for consumers to be better integrated into why multiple technological paradigms persist. Survey data of 300 Korean customers who had purchased watches were used. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the research model and hypotheses using SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the measurement model, and the structural model was used to test the relationships specified in the hypotheses. This research uncovers three key insights. First, consumer characteristics strongly reflect how consumers perceive value in different watch segments. Second, knowledgeable consumers build a sophisticated understanding of the value of both mechanical and quartz watches. Third, there is no significant relationship between value perceptions and purchase behavior, implying greater nuance in consumer perceptions of value. This study highlights how consumer heterogeneity sustains the persistence of several dominant designs. These findings confirm the suspicion that the traditional assumption of convergence in a dominant design is faulty.