How Can Marketers Overcome Consumer Resistance to Innovations?

Abstract

Abstract It is important for marketers to understand both individual resistance and group resistance in order to successfully bring innovations into global markets. We suggest that consumers resist innovations as individuals and as members of a group and that they do this in different ways at different stages of decision-making. The individual resistance begins with forms of initial resistance, develops into emergent resistance and mature or belated resistance at the individual level. In addition, personal moral standards can influence decision making in relation to the adoption of innovations. Individual resistance is sometimes accompanied by or evolves into group resistance. We introduce a framework for thinking about consumer resistance to innovations that sees it as a consequence of social identity, which has functions for the individual, the group to which one belongs, and other individuals and groups. Consumers with membership in a certain group try to increase their self-esteem through the process of social comparison. The more consumers strongly identify with and bond with a certain group, the more in-group solidarity and out-group hostility will occur. Out-group hostility gives group members strong resistance toward products and services related to the out-group. Individual resistance and group resistance are threats to marketers and dampen performance. By considering the existence of resistance to innovations and seeking strategies to overcome it, marketers can transform these threat into new opportunities. A better understanding of consumer resistance can complement research on the adoption of innovations and help in the development of a universal model of consumer behavior.