Evolutional Dynamism and Theoretical Model of Environmental and Operational Transformation in Vending Machine Retailing In USA and Japan

Abstract

Researchers have studied and discussed about the vending machine retailing by comparing marketing strategies, technological development and perspectives, location and merchandizing strategies, and cultural differences in consumer behaviors.  These studies have contributed to develop retail and marketing strategies with vending machines.  However, such studies have overlooked evolutional dynamism in vending machine retailing and consumer behaviors in the global markets. We found that the current movements in vending machine retailing in USA and Japan could be well explained by various theories of evolutional dynamism.  We also found that such movements could be powerful enough to create new ways and environments of vending machine retailing in the countries.  We could observe abrupt and drastic changes to destabilize current environments, specify elements of vending machine retailing with variety of degrees of path dependence, and draw a possible crossvergence transition to, at least, Sub-P-equilibrium.