Product Adoption Process Research Articles

Consumer Innovativeness and the Adoption Process

Two conceptualizations of innovativeness are operationalized and related to the new product adoption process. Multi‐item scales designed to measure consumer independent judgment making (i.e., the degree to which an individual makes innovation decisions independently of the communicated experience of others) and consumer novelty seeking (i.e., the desire to seek out new product information) are developed and tested on adult consumers. Tests of the hypothesized effects of these traits show that consumer novelty seeking is positively related to early stages of the adoption process (i.e., actualized novelty seeking and new product awareness), whereas consumer independent judgment making is only associated with later stages of the adoption process (i.e., new product trial). The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

Consumer Goods Packaging Innovation and its Role in the Product Adoption Process

Packaging has emerged as an important competitive tool. An innovative package can pre-empt a market position, create a new market and lead to greater sales and profits, just as an improved or reformulated product can. This report investigates the adoption process for packaging innovations in food and food-related items. It seeks to answer certain questions pertaining to the adoption process: Do early adopters differ from the general population? What factors serve to accelerate the rate of adoption of packing innovations by consumers? What kinds of packinging innovations become successes? The results of a small-scale empirical study comparing early adopters of packaging innovations with the general populations provide some answers to these questions. The report concludes with recommendations to management for successful innovative packaging.

NEW PRODUCT OR SERVICE ADOPTION: WHEN DOES IT HAPPEN?

Models of the new product adoption process have traditionally assumed that consumers move directly from product trial to adoption. Such an assumption essentially equates product purchase with adoption. Is it advisable for the manager to assume that consumers who purchase a new product for the first time are adopters of the innovation? This article argues that viewing the adoption process in this manner not only may be misleading, but could be incorrect. It is proposed that the addition of two variables — direct product experience and product evaluation—between trial and adoption will more accurately reflect the consumer's new product decision process. Empirical results from an energy‐related innovation provide support for the suggested modifications.

Long-term view of the diffusion of durables A study of the role of price and adoption influence processes via tests of nested models

This paper extends past research on new product diffusion by taking a long-term view of the diffusion process for several consumer durables. Specifically, we investigate the role of price and adoption influence processes within the product diffusion framework by assessing the relative superiority of competing model specifications belonging to a nested family. Results indicate that price affects the diffusion process only for relatively high-priced goods; further, our analysis suggests that this is achieved through impact on the probability of adoption. It is also shown that the traditional diffusion model specification (incorporating both external and internal influence) is not always the most adequate representation of the product adoption process.

A dynamic model of travel mode switching behaviour

An analogy is developed between individual traveler mode choice decisions and time-dependent product adoption processes in consumer behaviour. The structure of the adoption sequence is first described conceptually with reference to mode switch ing; this structure is then used to develop a simple mathematical model of mode switching behaviour over time. Factors to be considered in interpreting and operationalizing the model are then discussed at some length. The model appears too complex for direct mathematical solution except in the simplest cases; it may however, be amenable to numerical estimation, given empirical data on mode switching behaviour over time.