page_title: Consumer behaviour
section_title: New product adoption and diffusion of innovations
hierarchical_section_title: Consumer behaviour / Other topics in consumer behaviour / New product adoption and diffusion of innovations
caption_attribution_description: The diffusion of innovations according to Rogers (1962). With successive groups of consumers adopting the new technology (shown in blue), its market share (yellow) will eventually reach the saturation level.
context_page_description: Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services, and how the consumer's emotions, attitudes and preferences affect buying behaviour. Consumer behaviour emerged in the 1940s and 50s as a distinct sub-discipline of marketing, but has become an inter-disciplinary social science that blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology, anthropology, ethnography, marketing and economics.
  The study of consumer behaviour formally investigates individual qualities such as demographics, personality lifestyles, and behavioural variables, in an attempt to understand people's wants and consumption. Also investigated are the influences on the consumer, from groups such as family, friends, sports, and reference groups, to society in general, including brand-influencers and opinion leaders.
  Research has shown that consumer behaviour is difficult to predict, even for experts in the field; however, new research methods, such as ethnography and consumer neuroscience, are shedding new light on how consumers make decisions.
context_section_description: Within consumer behaviour, a particular area of interest is the study of how innovative new products, services, ideas or technologies spread through groups. Insights about how innovations are diffused (i.e., spread) through populations can assist marketers to speed up the new product adoption process and fine-tune the marketing program at different stages of the diffusion process. In addition, diffusion models provide benchmarks against which new product introductions can be tracked.
  A sizeable body of literature has been devoted to the diffusion of innovation. Research studies tend to fall into two broad categories; general diffusion research - an approach that seeks to understand the general process of diffusion and applied diffusion research - studies that describe the diffusion of specific products at particular moments in time or within given social communities. Collectively these studies suggest a certain regularity in the adoption process; initially few members adopt the innovation but over time, successive, overlapping waves of people begin to adopt the innovation. This pattern contributes to a generalised S-shaped curve, as shown in the figure at right. However, the exact shape and timing of curves varies in different product markets such that some innovations are diffused relatively quickly, while others can take many years to achieve broad market acceptance.
  The diffusion model developed by Everett Rogers is widely used in consumer marketing because it segments consumers into five groups, based on their rate of new product adoption.  Rogers defines the diffusion of innovation as the process by which that innovation is "communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system." Thus the diffusion process has a number of elements, the innovation, the communication channels, time and the social system. An innovation is any new idea, object or process that is perceived as new by members of the social system. Communication channels are the means by which information about the innovation is transmitted to members of the social system and may include mass media, digital media and personal communications between members of the social system.  Time refers to the rate at which the innovation is picked up by the members of the social system.
  Table 1: Adopter Categories
  A number of factors contribute to the rate at which innovations are diffused through a social community.
  Relative advantage: the degree to which an innovation is perceived to be superior to alternatives
  Compatibility: the extent to which an innovation fits in with an individual's values, lifestyles and past experiences
  Complexity: the degree to which an innovation is perceived to be easy or difficult to understand and use
  Trialability: the extent to which an individual can experiment with the innovation, on a limited scale, prior to adoption
  Observability: the degree to which the results of the innovation are visible to other members of the social community
  Innovations with some or all of these factors are more likely to be adopted quickly. Accordingly, marketing communications may stress the innovation's relative benefits over other solutions to the consumer's problem. Marketing messages may also focus on compatibility and observability. Marketers can also facilitate adoption by offering limited scale trial (e.g. samples, test drives, sale on approval), enabling consumers to develop and understanding of the innovation and how it is used prior to purchase.
  Studies have shown that the diffusion rate for many new technologies is speeding up. The figure, Household Penetration of Selected Communications Technologies (left), illustrates U.S. household penetration rates of selected communications technologies, measured as a percentage of all households. The slope of the curve becomes steeper with each successive innovation indicating a more rapid diffusion rate. For example, it took decades for the telephone to achieve 50 percent penetration rates beginning in around 1900, but it took less than five years for cellphones to achieve the
caption: The diffusion of innovations according to Rogers. As successive groups of consumers adopt the innovation(shown in blue), its market share (yellow) will eventually reach saturation level.
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