You need to understand these profiles as they have different needs and move through product adoption stages at different rates. They tend to be more risk-averse and may identify potential problems that early adopters may have overlooked. This feedback can help businesses address potential issues before they become significant problems. Companies that take laggards’ concerns seriously can use them to improve their products and services, making them more reliable and trustworthy. Laggards tend to be resistant to change, and they are often skeptical about new ideas.

1. According to research, consumers who adopt an innovation earlier demonstrate different characteristics than someone who adopts an innovation later.
2. By understanding the different categories of consumers and their characteristics, businesses can tailor their marketing efforts to each group’s needs and preferences.
3. However, it is worth noting that in many cases laggards are older people who are less familiar with technology than younger generations and in these cases they may still have a mid-level of socio-economic status.
4. Innovators are crucial to the success of any new product or service, as they help it to gain market acceptance.
5. Examine each customer’s purchasing history to determine whether and when they make innovative product purchases.

These categories help organizations understand the types of customers they should target to reach a wider consumer base and capture the mainstream market. They are, by nature, risk takers and are excited by the possibilities of new ideas and new ways of doing things. Consumers who buy innovative products later than other categories are known as the late majority. Like the early majority, they carefully consider products before making buying decisions. These customers are different because they are more risk-averse and wait to buy products until they have a long track record of effectiveness.

The importance of innovators is best exemplified by the rise of online review blogs as well as tech influencers. Blogs such as 9to5Mac as well as influencers like Marques Brownlee oftentimes test products prior to their launch. They are the individuals, households, or organizations that resist or never adopt the new product. The most distinguishing characteristic of this group is their highly traditional buying patterns. This group sees even more risk in new products than do those in the early majority.

Late majority

These customers are more interested in functional and long-lasting products than they are in innovation or trends. Before making a purchase, the early majority group frequently responds to reviews and suggestions from the early adopters. Although they might spend more money on items that meet their needs, people in this category think carefully about cost and risk before making choices. Laggards may be frustrating to work with, but they are an essential part of the innovation process. By embracing laggards and working to convert them, innovators can gain valuable feedback, avoid pitfalls, and increase the adoption rate of their innovations.

Implement a solid user research process, develop ideal customer profiles, and map the customer journey using product experience (PX) insights tools like Hotjar. All this lets you align your product with user needs and create customer delight. So you need to optimize your content, support, onboarding, and product adoption strategies accordingly. Too many companies launch a great product only to focus on isolated stages of product adoption—like encouraging users to sign up for a trial, or onboarding them to their app. Dealing with laggards can be challenging, but it’s essential to remember that everyone has different comfort levels when it comes to change.

Laggards have a significant impact on the success of an innovation, and their behavior can either make or break a new product or service. In this section, we will discuss how laggards affect the innovation process and why it is crucial to understand their behavior. They are more skeptical than early adopters and need more evidence before they adopt a new product or service. They are not as adventurous as innovators or early adopters, but they are still open to change. The early majority is crucial to the success of a new product or service because they represent the tipping point where the adoption rate starts to accelerate. The lowest levels were generally larger in numbers and tended to coincide with various demographic attributes that might be targeted by mass advertising.

For example, when the first smartphones were released, laggards were hesitant to purchase them until they became ubiquitous in society. The early majority is the third group of consumers to adopt new ideas or technologies. They are more cautious than early adopters and are typically more skeptical about new products or services. For example, when the first smartwatches were released, the early majority was hesitant to purchase them until they saw their friends and family using them. There are 5 types of adopters for products; innovators, early adopters, the early majority, the late majority and laggards.

Overall, laggards play an important role in the innovation adoption process. While they may be resistant to change, understanding who they are and what motivates them can help innovators better tailor their products and marketing strategies to reach this group. By addressing their concerns and providing clear information on the benefits of the new product or technology, innovators can overcome resistance from laggards and expand their market reach. The Diffusion of Innovations Theory has several implications for innovation management.

Characteristics of innovations

Mostly when the product has grown enough in the market and is in the phase of the late growth or the maturity phase that is when the people of the late majority group consider buying that product and then trying it out. This course is presented by Alan Dix, a former professor at Lancaster University in the UK and a world-renowned authority in Human-Computer Interaction. Alan is also the author the university-level textbook “Human-Computer Interaction.” It is a short course designed to help you master the concepts and practice of designing for adoption and appropriation. It contains all the basics to get you started on this path and the practical tips to implement the ideas. Alan blends theory and practice to ensure you get to grips with these essential design processes.

He is an accomplished author of thousands of insightful articles, including in-depth analyses of brands and companies. Holding an MBA in Marketing, Hitesh manages several offline ventures, where he applies all the concepts of Marketing that he writes about. But even though they like to investigate, since they care more about their reputation, they would eventually buy those products in most cases. Adopter categories divide consumers into segments based on their willingness to try out a new innovation or product. This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax’s permission.

Opinion leaders

Innovators are venturesome – They are willing to try new products at some risk. These are the most traditional of them all with an old kind of thinking. They start to use a product when to wither it is in its old maturity phase or maybe at the diminishing phase. They adopter categories share some of their traits with the early majority ones, but then they are always more cautious before they commit to buying any products. Also while purchasing the products, they first check their utility and other practical benefits and only then do they go for it.

To truly understand user needs and drive innovation, in-depth research and agile, quick usability testing are essential. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The Management Dictionary covers over 1800 business concepts from 5 categories. This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only. Upgrading to a paid membership gives you access to our extensive collection of plug-and-play Templates designed to power your performance—as well as CFI’s full course catalog and accredited Certification Programs.

Opinion leaders can play a crucial role in the diffusion of innovations by promoting new ideas or technologies and by providing social proof of their benefits. Opinion leaders can be identified using various https://1investing.in/ methods, such as network analysis, surveys, and observation. Once identified, opinion leaders can be targeted with specific messages and incentives to encourage them to adopt and promote the innovation.

This class of adopter is reasonably risk averse and wants to be sure that their, often more limited, resources are spent wisely on products. Understanding the Five Adopter Categories is crucial for businesses and organizations because it helps them create effective strategies to introduce new products or services to the market. Each category has a different personality, behavior, and attitude towards innovation, and businesses need to tailor their strategies accordingly.

The product adoption process helps you convince users that your product can solve their problems before they make it part of their daily lives. So you need to provide the right content and support throughout the buyer journey and guide them to quickly realize value. This helps you convert occasional users into regular ones so they stop looking for alternatives, which maximizes ROI on customer acquisition. While laggards may be hesitant to adopt new ideas, they can be converted with the right approach.

Laggards value traditional methods of doing things and highly averse to change and risk. Typically laggards will have low socio-economic status and rarely seek opinions outside of their own limited social set. However, it is worth noting that in many cases laggards are older people who are less familiar with technology than younger generations and in these cases they may still have a mid-level of socio-economic status.