Penguin effect

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The penguin effect is a network effect from network theory . He describes that early users of a network or standard get little benefit because not enough other users are involved. As a result, there is a wait-and-see attitude among the potential users (see follow-up effect ) and the standard or network can subsequently fail.

The penguin effect is derived from the behavior of hungry penguins who stay in small groups at the edge of the open water on solid ground instead of jumping into the water and looking for food because potential predators could lurk in the water. The individual penguin does not know whether there are actually enemies in the water. However, as soon as the first one has dared to jump into the water, the waiting birds can better assess the danger (and if necessary jump into the water themselves), which is the trigger for the penguin effect.

Examples of the penguin effect can be found in software or stocks , among other things .

literature

  • Bruce M. Owen, Steven S. Wildman: Video Economics . Harvard University Press, Cambridge, London, 1992, ISBN 0-674-93716-3 (p. 270)
  • Jay Pil Choi: Herd Behavior, the "Penguin Effect" and the Suppression of Informational Diffusion: an Analysis of Informational Externalities and Payoff Interdependency . RAND Journal of Economics, 1997, Vol. 28 No. 3