Catfish effect 鲶鱼效应

Catfish effect鲶鱼效应

Adding a strong competitor to a market can sometimes motivate others to compete. This phenomenon can be described by term “catfish effect,” coming from the supposed practice of Norwegian fishermen, who put catfish into containers with live sardines to keep them active. This keeps the sardines alive long enough to reach market, where they can fetch a higher price than frozen sardines can. The catfish effect can be used to describe a new employee prompting existing ones to work harder or a new and innovative market entrant challenging incumbents to improve. Supporters of new e-investment products appearing in China argue that they are the catfish to the banks sardines, forcing the established financial institutions to offer better services and products to avoid losing customers.