Effects of Innate Innovativeness and Product Interest on Product-Specific Consumer Innovativeness

Abstract

This study investigated consumer innovativeness by examining a relationship model of innate innovativeness, product interest, product-specific innovativenss, and actualized innovativeness for eight product items as well as observed gender differences in the variables. The eight product items for the survey were smartphones, movies, clothing, cars, skin care products/cosmetics, traveling, AI products, and books. An online survey was conducted in January 2018, and 400 responses from male and female consumers in their twenties and thirties, were analyzed using reliability test, descriptive statistics, regression, and ANCOVA. The positive effect of innate innovativeness and product interest on product-specific innovativeness, and positive effect of innate innovativeness and product-specific innovativeness on actualized innovativeness were confirmed. Product interest was found to have a stronger power on product-specific innovativeness than innate innovativeness. Gender differences in product interest, product-specific innovativeness, and actualized innovativeness were identified as hypothesized. Female consumer’s clothing interest, clothing innovativenss, and actualized clothing innovativeness were higher than male consumers; in addition, male consumer’s cars and AI interest, cars and AI innovativenss, and actualized cars and AI innovativeness were higher than female’s. The controversial results that indicated the higher innate innovativeness of male consumers useful to further in-depth discussion and research. This study contributed to the theory construction of consumer innovativeness research areas and offered practical implications for new product launching and customer relationship management. Keywords: consumer innovativeness, innate innovativeness, product interest, product-specific innovativeness