It’s been a little over a year since Apple released the iPhone. I still don’t have one, nor do I want or see the need to have one (it’s just not practical for me and I’m not that plugged-in). I always thought I was that person though, the one who had to run out and get the latest, greatest, newest gadget to hit the market.

Now that I’m a little older, I realize I wasn’t that person.

When I got my first iPod I thought I was the coolest, but it was the 3rd Gen iPod. That’s two generations after the initial iPod! None of my friends had one yet, but I was already behind in getting the latest, greatest, newest gadget. That got me thinking, what type of consumer am I? An innovator, early adopter or something else?

According to Everett Rogers’ The Diffusion of Innovations Theory, consumers adopt technology based on a number of things including social status and education and can be categorized as:

• Innovators – venturesome, educated, multiple info sources
• Early Adopters – social leaders, popular, educated
• Early Majority – deliberate, many informal social contacts
• Late Majority – skeptical, traditional, lower socio-economic status
• Laggards – neighbors and friends are main sources of info, lower education, fear of debt

And can be visualized in the traditional bell shaped curve:

Rogers breaks the adoption cycle into five stages:

1. Awareness
2. Interest
3. Evaluation
4. Trial
5. Adoption

So what does this mean for me? After examining Roger’s theories and his analysis of diffusion of technology, I would have to say that I am more of an Early Majority consumer. I tend to stand back and let the dust settle a bit before jumping in and getting that latest, greatest, still-sorta-newest gadget.

In fact, I tend to do a lot of research before making a purchase, large or small — spending most of my time in stages 2 and 3 of the adoption cycle. This drives my wife crazy, by the way, but it’s in my blood. My mom has told me stories of how I would stand back as a boy and wait for the other kids to try out playground equipment before I would. I guess we are who we are, no matter how cool we think we might be.

This examination is important to us because it can be applied not only to new technology, but also to new brands and new consumer products as well. As marketers and designers, we need to look at the Innovators and Early Adopters as our target audiences first, and then let them build the excitement and buzz needed for success. As momentum builds, we transition to marketing towards the Early Majority and expand the customer base letting the Late Majority and Laggards fall into place.

Have you got your iPhone yet?

Posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 by Chris Rupp