earticle

영어

This study investigates whether early entrants benefit and whether this advantage persists over time in the used car-buying apps market. Although several studies have examined the relationship between first-mover advantage and market share in various markets, only a few have investigated this relationship in the car-buying app market. This study uses a discrete-choice product differentiation model to analyze 84 observations from six used car-buying apps in the Korean market between March 2022 and April 2023. The analysis renders three significant findings. First, although the used car app market is advantageous for early entrants, the benefit gradually decreases over time. Second, late or new entrants tend to provide relatively innovative services compared to existing apps, which positively affects securing market share. Finally, the first-mover can maintain the relative advantages of early market entry only by introducing innovative services, as new entrants do.