week 10 adopters Flashcards
diffusion of innovators - ‘adoption’
Micro process ‒ Concerned with how individual consumers decide whether to accept or
reject a new product
diffusion of innovators - diffusion
Macro process ‒
Concerned with how a new product spreads within a particular
population
Four basic elements of the diffusion process
The innovation
‒ The channels of communication
‒ The social system
‒ Time
Four ways of defining new product or service innovations:
Firm-oriented
‒ Product-oriented ‒ Market-oriented
‒ Consumer-oriented
Firm-oriented definitions
A product is ‘new’ when it is new to a company
Product-oriented definition
Continuous innovation involves a modification or improvement to an
existing product ‒ Least disruptive
Dynamically continuous innovation involves new or modified products
for established behaviours or needs ‒ Mildly disruptive
Discontinuous innovation requires consumers to adopt new behaviour
patterns ‒ Highly disruptive
define continous innovation
involves a modification or improvement to an
existing product ‒
Least disruptive
define dynamically continous innovation
Dynamically continuous innovation involves new or modified products
for established behaviours or needs ‒ Mildly disruptive
define discontinious innovation
Discontinuous innovation requires consumers to adopt new behaviour
patterns ‒ Highly disruptive
define marke oriented definition
How new the product is to the market ‒ A products is new if:
o It has been purchased by a relative small proportion of the target
market
or
o It has been on the market for a relatively short period of time
consumer orineted definition of innovation
‒ A product is new if consumers perceive it to be new
Product characteristics that influence rate of diffusion include:
‘Relative advantage’ over existing substitutes ‒ ‘Compatibility’ with present needs and behaviours ‒ ‘Complexity’ ‒
Ability to ‘trial’ before purchasing
‒ Ability for others to ‘observe’ benefits
explain diffusion of innovations (communication)
The spread of innovations occurs from communication between:
Marketer and consumer ‒ Disinterested parties and consumers (example: media) ‒ Consumer and consumer (example: word of mouth)
• Communication can occur via: ‒ Impersonal sources (example: advertising,
advertorial)
‒ Interpersonal sources (examples: salespeople, opinion leaders)
explain diffusion of innovations (social system)
Diffusion usually takes place in a social system (examples: market segment,
target market)
• The values of the system will influence the speed of diffusion and whether
the innovation is accepted
• Example: innovations in business and the developing world
Three critical time-based metrics underpin the diffusion process
Purchase time: time between becoming aware of a new product and purchasing/rejecting it
Adopter categories: how quickly a consumer adopts a new product
relative to all consumers
Rate of adoption: how long it takes a new product to be adopted by
members of a social system
