Marketing Management, Millenium Edition - epiheirimatikotita.gr

■■■Early adopters share some traits that differentiate them from late adopters.Efficient media exist for reaching early adopters.Early adopters tend to be opinion leaders and helpful in “advertising” the newproduct to other potential buyers.The theory of innovation diffusion and consumer adoption helps marketers identifyearly adopters.STAGES IN THE ADOPTION PROCESSAn innovation refers to any good, service, or idea that is perceived by someone as new.The idea may have a long history, but it is an innovation to the person who sees itas new. Innovations take time to spread through the social system. Rogers defines theinnovation diffusion process as “the spread of a new idea from its source of inventionor creation to its ultimate users or adopters.” 43 The consumer-adoption process focuseson the mental process through which an individual passes from first hearingabout an innovation to final adoption.Adopters of new products have been observed to move through five stages:1. Awareness: The consumer becomes aware of the innovation but lacks informationabout it.2. Interest: The consumer is stimulated to seek information about the innovation.3. Evaluation: The consumer considers whether to try the innovation.4. Trial: The consumer tries the innovation to improve his or her estimate of itsvalue.5. Adoption: The consumer decides to make full and regular use of the innovation.The new-product marketer should facilitate consumer movement through thesestages. A portable electric-dishwasher manufacturer might discover that many consumersare stuck in the interest stage; they do not buy because of their uncertaintyand the large investment cost. But these same consumers would be willing to use anelectric dishwasher on a trial basis for a small monthly fee. The manufacturer shouldconsider offering a trial-use plan with option to buy. Developers of most general-interestinteractive CD-ROM titles found that consumers were stuck in the interest ortrial stage and moved less rapidly to adoption.■ CD-ROMs In the early 1990s, there seemed to be room in the CD-ROM industryfor everyone. Multimedia developers were producing action games andeducational software and moving into a hodgepodge of interactive productsthat ranged from hypertext novels to multimedia music anthologies. Today,few of these titles are selling well or even on the market. One of the maincauses of the poor sales is the ascendance of the Web. Most CD-ROMs, particularlyreference titles, found a more cost-effective home on the Web, amedium that also enables them to keep up-to-date and link to a communityof users. CD-ROMs also faced hundreds of competitors in an extremely fragmentedentertainment market. Another problem was the glut of titles withserious quality problems. Although consumers were willing to put up withlower quality, they were not patient with technical glitches. When Disneywas beset by massive store returns of its defective Lion King CD-ROM, theNew York Times promptly claimed that CD-ROMs were dead. 44FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ADOPTION PROCESSMarketers recognize the following characteristics of the adoption process: differencesin individual readiness to try new products; the effect of personal influence; differingrates of adoption; and differences in organizations’ readiness to try new products.chapter 11DevelopingNew MarketOfferings 355