5 Types of Adopters: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, Laggards

Well, once you’re sure that the user experience and usability of your product work the way you want them to, you’ve got to get your designs adopted by users (i.e., they have to start using them). Ideally, you want them to appropriate your designs, too; you want the users to start using your designs in ways you didn’t intend or foresee. The mass market release of any product must be appealing and beneficial to early adopters if it is to convince those thought leaders to support further adoption of the product. You would expect the marketing team to identify these people very early during the product development . Marketing would be expected to gain the interest of these people, involve them in early user trials and generally win their support. Rogers presents a social system for adopters of recent innovation; the adoption of innovation varies throughout the course of the product-life cycle as shown in the diagram above.

From a marketing perspective, it is just worth considering that there is a proportion of consumers that are prone to avoid new product and any form of innovation. Moreover, consumers and organizational buyers pass through various mental and behavioral stages before deciding to adopt an innovation. Consumers move from no awareness to awareness, to interest, to evaluation, to trial, and finally to adoption.

And their financial liquidity is also very less as compared to the early majority ones. When considering the target market, they cover approximately 36 percent of the segment of the target market. Each of these adopter categories was identified by Rogers from its essential characteristics. These key characteristics depend on the basis of the degree of opinion. They are arranged on the basis of the preference of whether they are the highest or the lowest, oldest or the newest.

• The late majority, will probably arrive as product differentiation occurs and the product has established itself in a particular niche in the market.
• Unlike some of the previous categories, individuals in this category show little to no opinion leadership.
• Adopter categories divide consumers into segments based on their willingness to try out a new innovation or product.
• Slightly above average in age, education and farming experience.

At the last stage, the consumer decides to make full and regular use of the new product. Under this concept, companies would target heavy users initially with their offers. This also suffered some limitations as the heavy users vary in their tastes, preferences, adopter status, and brand loyalty levels.

The process of adoption over time is typically illustrated as a classical normal distribution or “bell curve”. The model indicates that the first group of people to use a new product is called “innovators”, followed by “early adopters”. Sign up for a Whatfix demoto see how we can help you win over members of every adopter category in the technology adoption curve. A critical stage in the technology adoption lifecycle is when new technology is being used by early adopters rather than by the early majority.

As a result, they actively seek new products to help them in that pursuit. They are more receptive to unknown things, depend more on their own values and judgment, and are more eager to take risks. Their brand loyalty is low, and they are more prone to special promotions such as discounts, coupons, and samples. It’s about thinking what outcome your beachhead desires and then using your product to deliver on these needs.

Alan blends theory and practice to ensure you get to grips with these essential design processes. The early majority, on the other hand, is likely to be targeted through more general marketing approaches and it is hoped that their connection with the early adopters will drive word-of-mouth sales. Designers may end up catering to the early majority through product iteration and offering improvements to the product.

Adopter Categories Definition.

At the same time, marketers should emphasize quality control and provide solid guarantees to reinforce buyer opinion during the evaluation stage. Next, in the trial stage, the consumer tries the product on a small scale to improve its value estimate. The consumer considers whether trying the new product makes sense. Once the information has been gathered, the consumer enters the evaluation stage and considers buying the new product. If these same consumers would be willing to use a large-screen television on a trial basis for a small fee, the manufacturer should consider offering a trial-use plan with the option to buy. If you have clear ideas on these two, you will identify early adopters by utilizing your knowledge.

The underlying theory behind this concept, called Diffusion of Innovation,helps to explain how, why, and at which rate new technology advances. Late majority – the pole of this category are those who have just started to use debit and credit cards. Innovators – Now since these people love to explore the new product, they will be the first ones to visit the apple store to buy the latest launch be it an apple watch or an iPhone. The people of this group are mostly considered to be conservative. These are the most traditional of them all with old kind of thinking.

Innovators are the first 2.5 percent of a group to adopt a new idea. The next 13.5 percent to adopt an innovation are labeled early adopters. The next 34 percent of the adopters are called the early majority.

They will try to obtain more information than an innovator in this decision making process. The adoption of a new product, service, or idea is not an overnight phenomenon – it does not happen simultaneously across all people in a social system. According to research, consumers who adopt an innovation earlier demonstrate different characteristics than someone who adopts an innovation later. Therefore, for marketers, understanding the characteristics of each segment that will either help or hinder the adoption of an innovation is important. The individuals in a social system do not all adopt an innovation at the same time. Rather, in an over-time sequence, so that individuals can be classified into adopter categories on the basis of when they first begin using a new idea.

How are early adopters identified?

Now, these adopter categories are used extensively in the marketing industry of the present day. This is more popular in markets where new products are launched and the consumers get plenty of opportunities to explore this. Adopter categories form an important part of the product adoption theory. Because of this behavior, some of these consumers are “forced” to adopt the new product, as the existing product solutions are being withdrawn from the market . Typically these are presented using a standard bell curve concept. Innovators, early adopters and the early majority represent the first 50% of consumers to adopt a new product, whereas the late majority laggards represent the final 50%.

Marketing specialists examine data such as buying habits, demographics, influence, and engagement to categorize customers. Younger customers, for instance, may be more likely to adopt products in the future if they consistently purchase new products. Individuals in this category are the last to adopt an innovation. Unlike some of the previous categories, individuals in this category show little to no opinion leadership.

If the consumer is satisfied with the product, they enter the adoption stage, deciding to use the new product thoroughly and regularly. For adopting a new product, at first, the consumer becomes aware of the new product but does not have information about it. The consumer shows interest and searches for information about the new product. In the third stage, the consumer evaluates whether trying the new product is worthwhile. After that, the consumer tries the new product on a limited scale to improve its value assessment.

Therefore, the theory helps marketers understand how trends occur, and helps companies in assessing the likelihood of success or failure of their new introduction. Adopter Categories Definition describes the different categories of users that adopt a new product or service. The categories are based on the rate of adoption, with “innovators” being the first to adopt, followed by “early adopters”, “early majority”, “late majority”, and “laggards”. This classification of consumers relates to their willingness to take risks and to switch purchase behaviors relative to particular product categories.

Successful introduction depends greatly on the new product’s characteristics, benefits, and perceived risks. Effective communication is the key to achieving trial by consumers. Early majorities are not risk-taking and typically wait until a product or service is tested or used by a trusted peer. These individuals are prudent and want to purchase things that are proven to work.

Diffusion of Innovation

For adopters in this category of the technology adoption curve, you’ll need a pragmatic approach. Go to the early majority with evidence of what technology can accomplish. The early majority adopt new ideas just before the average member of a social system. adopter categories The early majority interact frequently with their peers, but leadership position; are rarely held by them. The early majority’s unique position; between the very early and relatively late to adopt make; them an important link in the diffusion process.

Similar to Adopter Categories (

Whereas innovators are cosmopolites, early adopters are localities. This adopter’s category, more than any other, has the greatest degree of opinion leadership in most social systems. Potential adopters look to early adopters for advice and information about the innovation. The early adopter is considered by many as “the man to check with” before using a new idea. This adopter category is generally sought by change agents to be a local missionary for speeding the diffusion process. Because early adopters are not too far ahead of the average individual in innovativeness, they serve as a role model for many other members of a social system.

Case studies and real-life user stories trump generic promises of what a tool or program can do. Let’s say you want to use adigital adoption platformto onboard employees to a new piece of software. The big opportunity is being able to save on content creation time, improve user adoption rates company-wide, and increase productivity.

What is product adoption curve?

Places like Reddit, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, public slack groups, key influencers on twitter. If you can find people writing about the problems you are trying to solve, they might lead you to your early adopters. Although every adopter follows the same five stages described earlier, adopters’ reactions and behaviors during those stages differ. Some adopters move faster than others, and some may need more information than others.

Early adopters are the second phase of product purchasers following innovators. These tend to be the most influential people within any market space and they will often have a degree of “thought leadership” for other potential adopters. They may be very active in social media and often create reviews and other materials around new products that they strongly like or dislike. Customers who are early adopters can decide whether or not other people try a company’s new products. Individuals in this category account for 10%-15% of consumers. Many companies view these clients as opinion and thought leaders who investigate novel products and express their views on them, frequently in public.

Customer adoption patterns are important to understanding how to market new product for adoption. Without a clear understanding of what each type of adopter values it can be difficult, if not impossible to target them through marketing. Identifying adopters is valuable for crafting marketing messages. By addressing any adopter category’s values, maximum impact is more likely. Innovators are those who want to be the first to acquire a new product or service.