Lecture diffusion of innovation

Diffusion
of Innovations
Diffusion of Innovations

Diffusion
 In consumer behavior terms, refers to research
on the consumer acceptance of new products
and services
 Involves understanding two closely related
processes:
 Diffusion: a macro process concerned with the
spread of a new product--an innovation--from
its source to the consuming public
 Adoption: the micro process concerned with
the stages the consumer goes through in
deciding to accept or reject a new product

The diffusion process
 Diffusion is the process by which
 the acceptance of an innovation--a new product,
service, idea or practice
 is spread by communication--mass media,
salespeople, or word-of-mouth
 to members of a social system--target market
 over a period of time

 Four basic elements of the diffusion
process:
1. The innovation
2. The channel of communication
3. The social system
4. Time

1. The innovation
 Innovation takes many forms
 There is no universally accepted definition of
the terms product innovation or new product
 Instead, approaches to define the term have
taken place within certain contexts:
 Firm-oriented definitions
 Market-oriented definitions
 Consumer-oriented definitions
 Product-oriented definitions

Product-oriented definitions
 This approach focuses on the features
inherent in the product itself and the effects
these features are likely to have on
consumers’ established usage patterns
 Robertson identified three types of product
innovations:
 Continuous innovation
 Dynamically continuous innovation
 Discontinuous innovation

Continuous innovation
 Introduction of a modified product rather than
a totally new product
 Little or no change in technology
 Has the least disruptive influence on
established usage patterns
 Symbolic innovations tend to be continuous

Dynamically continuous innovation
 May involve a new product or modification of
an existing product
 Some technical advances
 Still does not disrupt or alter consumer
buying and usage patterns

Discontinuous innovation
 Introduction of a pioneering product
 Involves a major technological advance
 Consumers must learn new behavior patterns
 May be difficult to market initially
 Is rare

Product characteristics that influence
diffusion
 Not all new products meet with immediate
success
 No precise formula marketers can use to
predict how consumers will react to their
products

 Researchers have identified five
characteristics that appear to influence
consumer acceptance
1. Relative advantage
2. Compatibility
3. Complexity
4. Trialability
5. Observability

Relative advantage
 The degree to which potential consumers
perceive a new product is superior to existing
substitutes

Compatibility
 The degree to which potential consumers feel
a new product is consistent with their present
needs, values and practices

Complexity
 The degree to which a new product is difficult
to understand or use

Trialability
 The degree to which a new product is
capable of being tried on a limited basis

Observability
 The ease with which a product’s benefits or
attributes can be observed, imagined or
described to potential consumers

2. Channel of communication
 Speed with which an innovation spreads
through the market depends in great part on
communications
 Between the marketer and consumer
 Between consumers (word-of-mouth)
 In recent years a number of new channels of
communication have been developed

3. The social system
 The physical, social, or cultural environment
to which people belong and within which they
function
 Members of a social system have at least
one characteristic in common that makes
them potential buyers of a particular product
 The values and norms of a social system will
influence the acceptance or rejection of new
products

 Three characteristics of a social system
influence spread of new products
1. The degree of compatibility between innovation
and values of members
2. Homogeneity of members
3. Across cultures, depends on social similarity of
the cultures

4. Time
 Time relates to diffusion in three ways:
1. Amount of purchase time
2. Adopter categories
3. Rate of adoption

1. Purchase time
 Refers to the amount of time that elapses
between a consumer’s initial awareness of a
new product or service and the point at which
he or she purchases or rejects it
 Important because is a predictor of the
overall length of time it will take for the
product to achieve widespread adoption

2. Adopter categories
 Involve a classification scheme that
indicates where a consumer stands relative
to other consumers in terms of when they
adopt a new product (i.e., time)
 Five categories identified in research:
1. Innovators
2. Early adopters
3. Early majority
4. Late majority
5. Laggards

Opinion leaders
 Opinion leaders are most likely to be found
among the early adopters category
 Opinion leadership is the process by which
one person--the opinion leader--informally
influences the actions or attitudes of others
 The key characteristic is that it takes place
between two individuals, neither of whom
represents a commercial selling source and
is thus considered more reliable

Time and the Adopter Categories
Adopter Categories Based on Innovativeness
Innovators

3. Rate of adoption
 How long it takes a new product or service to
be adopted by members of a social system
 Rate of adoption generally is becoming faster
 Diffusion of products worldwide is becoming
more rapid as well
 Marketers generally desire as fast a rate of
adoption as possible in order to dominate a
market before competitors enter

“Skimming”
 Sometimes marketers don’t seek a rapid rate
of adoption
 Making the product available at a very high
price to consumers who are willing to pay top
dollar, then gradually lowering the price over
time for additional segments of the market
 Permits manufacturers to recover
development costs more quickly

The adoption process
 Series of stages the consumer moves
through in arriving at a decision to purchase
or reject a new product
 Five stages include
1. Knowledge/awareness
2. Persuasion/interest
3. Decision/evaluation
4. Implementation/trial
5. Confirmation/adoption (rejection)

Resistance to adoption
 Researchers have identified five factors that
may result in consumers’ failure to adopt a
new product
1. Value barriers
2. Usage barriers
3. Risk barriers
4. Tradition barriers
5. Image barriers

Table 15.11 The Stages in the Adoption
Process
NAME
OF
STAGE
WHAT HAPPENS
DURING THIS
STAGE
EXAMPLE
Awareness
Consumer is first
exposed to the product
innovation.
David sees an ad for a new digital camera
in the newspaper.
Interest
Consumer is interested
in the product and
searches for additional
information.
David reads about the camera on the
manufacturer’s Web site, ad then goes to a
camera store near his office and has a
salesman show him the camera.
Evaluation
Consumer decides
whether or not to believe
that this product or
service will satisfy the
need--a kind of “mental
trial.”
After talking with a knowledgeable
friend, David decides that his camera
should be able to provide him with the
photos he needs to use in PowerPoint
presentations. He also likes the fact that it
uses “standard” floppy disks for storage.

Table 15.11 The Stages in the Adoption
Process
Trial
Consumer uses the
product on a limited
basis
Since camera cannot be “tried” like a
small bottle of a new shampoo, David
buys the camera from a dealer offering a
14-day full refund policy.
Adoption
(Rejection)
If trial is favorable,
consumer decides to use
the product on a full,
rather than a limited
basis--if unfavorable, the
consumer decides o
reject it.
David finds that the camera is easy to use
and the results are excellent;
consequently, he keeps the digital camera.
NAME
OF
STAGE
WHAT HAPPENS
DURING THIS
STAGE
EXAMPLE

Lecture diffusion of innovation

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