CHAPTER

FOURTEEN
Consumers and
the Diffusion of
Innovations
 Learning Objectives

1. To Understand the Twofold Process of the Spread and

Acceptance of Innovative Products and Services
Within a Social System.
2. To Understand How Innovative Products and Services
Spread (or Fail to Spread) Within a Social System.
3. To Understand How Individual Consumers Decide
Whether or Not to Try and Adopt a Particularly
Innovative Product or Service.
4. To Understand the Personal Characteristics of
Innovators.

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What Is Shown or Stated in This Ad That Is Designed to
Attract Consumers to This New Product?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 3

 New Flavor

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 4

 Diffusions of Innovation

• How are new products and services

accepted?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 5

 The process by which
the acceptance of an
innovation is spread by
Diffusion
communication to
Process
members of a social
system over a period of
time.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 6

Elements of the Diffusion Process

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 The Innovation

• Firm-oriented definitions
– Product is “new” to the company
• Product-oriented definitions
– Continuous
– Dynamically continuous
– Discontinuous

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What Kind of Innovation Is Shown
Here, and Why?

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Continuous Innovation – The Product
is Modified

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 The Innovation

• Market-oriented definitions
– Based on consumer exposure
• Consumer-oriented definitions
– Consumer judges it as “new”

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 The Innovation
Product Characteristics

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Developing a Marketing Strategy for Diffusing
Innovations - Figure 14.4

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 13

 Channels of Communication

• Channels of communication
– Marketer to consumer
– Consumer to consumer
– Influential impersonal sources

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 14

 The Social System

• Modern social systems accept more innovation

due to their:
– Positive attitude toward change
– Advanced technology and skilled labor force
– Respect for education and science
– Emphasis on rational and ordered social relationships
– An outreach perspective where members interact
with outsiders
– A system where members can see themselves in
different roles

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 15

 Time

• Purchase Time
• Adopter Categories
• Rate of Adoption

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 Adopter Categories

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Diffusion Curves for Adopter Categories -
Figure 14.5

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 Discussion Question

• Which adopter category are you?

• Does it differ with different product
categories?
• How about your parents, what category
are they?
• Is age a factor in innovation behavior?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 19

 Rate of Adoption

• How long does it Product Number of years

Pager 41
take a new
Telephone 38
product to be
Cable television 25
adopted by the
Fax machine 22
members of a
VCR 9
social system?
Cell pone 9

PC 7

Time Required for Electronic Products to

Penetrate 10 percent of UK market
Table 14.3
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 20
 The stages through
which an individual
consumer passes in
Adoption arriving at a decision to
Process try (or not to try), to
continue using (or
discontinue using) a new
product.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 21

 Stages in Adoption Process
Table 14.4
NAME OF WHAT HAPPENS DURING THIS EXAMPLE
STAGE STAGE

Awareness Consumer is first exposed to the Eric sees an ad for a 23-inch thin LCD
product innovation. HDTV in a magazine he is reading.

Interest Consumer is interested in the
product and searches for
additional information.
Evaluation Consumer decides whether or
not to believe that this product
or service will satisfy the need –
a kind of “mental trial.”
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Eric reads about the HDTV set on the
manufacturer’s Web site and then goes
to an electronics store near his
apartment and has a sales person show
him the unit.
After talking to a knowledgeable friend,
Eric decides that his TV will fit nicely on
top of the chest in his bedroom. He also
calls his cable company and finds out
that he can exchange his “standard”
cable box at no cost for an HDTV cable
box.
Chapter Fourteen Slide 22
 Stages in Adoption Process
Table 14.4 (continued)

NAME OF WHAT HAPPENS DURING THIS EXAMPLE

STAGE STAGE

Trial Consumer uses the product on a Since the HDTV set cannot be “tried”
limited basis like a small tube of toothpaste, Eric buys
the TV at this local electronics store on
his way home from work. The store
offers a 14-day full refund policy.
Adoption If trial is favorable, consumer Eric loves his new HDTV set and expects
(Rejection) decides to use the product on a many year of service from it.
full, rather than a limited basis –
if unfavorable, the consumer
decides to reject it.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 23

Importance of Information Sources
Figure 14.8

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 The Consumer Innovator

• The earliest purchasers of a new product

• Tend to have higher level of:
– Education
– Social interaction
– Opinion leadership
– Venturesomeness
– Social Status

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 Discussion Questions

• Who do you know, personally, that you would

consider an innovator?
• What is it about that person that makes them
an innovator? What personality traits might
they have which prompt their status?

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 The Consumer Innovator

• Interest in product category

• Opinion leader

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 27

 Discussion Questions

• Who are the most influential opinion leaders

for college-aged people?
• Why are they influential?

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 The Consumer Innovator

• Personality traits
– Perceived risk and venturesomeness
– Purchase and consumption characteristics
– Media habits

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 29

 The Consumer Innovator

• Social characteristics
• Demographic
characteristics

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter Fourteen Slide 30

Comparative Profiles of the Consumer Innovator and
Noninnovator - Table 14.5 (excerpt)
Characteristic Innovator Noninnovator
Social Characteristics

Social integration More Less

Social striving More Less

Group memberships More Less

Demographic Characteristics

Age Younger Older

Income Higher Lower

Education More Less

Occupational status Higher Lower

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 Are There Generalized
Consumer Innovators?
• Domain-specific vs. global innovativeness
• Technology and innovators

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Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.

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