In comparison to early adopters, which of the following statements is true of the early majority?

Back to Rogers’ research, we see that not everyone will immediately adopt a disruptive idea despite obvious benefits. Over years of research, Rogers identified some fascinating personality traits that help us organize how people will accept a new innovation. It turns out we approach innovations in the following ways.

(From Diffusion of Innovations)

Innovators (2.5%) – Innovators are the first individuals to adopt an innovation. Innovators are willing to take risks, youngest in age, have the highest social class, have great financial lucidity, very social and have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction with other innovators. Risk tolerance has them adopting technologies which may ultimately fail. Financial resources help absorb these failures. (Rogers 1962 5th ed, p. 282)

Early Adopters (13.5%) – This is the second fastest category of individuals who adopt an innovation. These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the other adopter categories. Early adopters are typically younger in age, have a higher social status, have more financial lucidity, advanced education, and are more socially forward than late adopters. More discrete in adoption choices than innovators. Realize judicious choice of adoption will help them maintain central communication position (Rogers 1962 5th ed, p. 283).

Early Majority (34%) – Individuals in this category adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time. This time of adoption is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters. Early Majority tend to be slower in the adoption process, have above average social status, contact with early adopters, and seldom hold positions of opinion leadership in a system (Rogers 1962 5th ed, p. 283)

Late Majority (34%) – Individuals in this category will adopt an innovation after the average member of the society. These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted the innovation. Late Majority are typically skeptical about an innovation, have below average social status, very little financial lucidity, in contact with others in late majority and early majority, very little opinion leadership.

Laggards (16%) – 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. These individuals typically have an aversion to change-agents and tend to be advanced in age. Laggards typically tend to be focused on “traditions”, likely to have lowest social status, lowest financial fluidity, be oldest of all other adopters, in contact with only family and close friends, very little to no opinion leadership.

If we were to graph these groups, we’d see the standard bell shape curve:

Where blue represents the groups of consumer adopting a new technology and yellow is the market share which obviously reaches 100% following complete adoption. This is the point of market saturation.

Which One Are You?

It is important to note that individuals do not always line up as “Innovators” in all areas of their decision making processes. For example, a person may adopt cutting-edge green technologies for their home with solar heating and yet not belong to an online social network or own a smartphone. We bounce back and forth across the curve in large part based on the pain points we are trying to solve and our interest in the underpinnings of the change presented.

Bonus: While this research can seem a bit high-level, it has profound real-world impacts on how technology products and services get adopted. Many entrepreneurs and marketers fail to take into account that you must move from left to right in the adoption curve. As a result, they drastically overestimate their market size and how much work and time will go into getting a disruptive idea into the mainstream. For a detailed must-read in this area that builds on Rogers’ research with real-world examples from the tech space, check out Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore.

Chapter 11 MKT

It is generally considered wise to have a well extended introductory stage of the product life cycle.
a.
True
b.
False

At the product development stage, it is premature to explore the feasibility of manufacturing the product at an acceptable cost.
a.
True
b.
False

Innovators are the first 2.5% of all those who adopt a new product. Early adopters are the next 13.5% to adopt the product.
a.
True
b.
False

Marketers typically pay little or no attention to directing their advertising or personal selling toward laggards.
a.
True
b.
False

A relative product failure results when a new product returns a profit but fails to achieve its goals for sales, profit, or market share.
a.
True
b.
False

During the maturity stage of the product life cycle, new users can be added indefinitely.
a.
True
b.
False

In late 2014, Apple introduced the iPhone 6, which featured a larger screen with 38% more pixels than the iPhone 5S and an upgraded camera that could record videos in slow motion. These changes indicate that Apple was offering a new product line.
a.
True

The product life cycle (PLC) for a brand is usually longer than the PLC for a product form.
a.
True
b.
False

A firm that starts with a global strategy is better able to develop products that are marketable worldwide.
a.
True
b.
False

The maturity stage is normally the longest stage of the PLC. Many major household appliances are in the maturity stage of their life cycles.
a.
True
b.
False

A product category includes all brands that satisfy a particular type of need.
a.
True
b.
False

When Clayton Specialties enters the simultaneous product development phase for its new engine, it will have its R&D department and marketing work sequentially on the product.
a.
True
b.
False

A new-product strategy links the new-product development process with the objectives of the marketing department, the business unit, and the corporation.
a.
True
b.
False

It really does not matter whether the product is "new to the world" or some other category of new product. If it is new to a potential adopter, it is an innovation in this context.
a.
True
b.
False

When considering the diffusion of innovation regarding new products, a dominant characteristic of innovators is tradition.
a.
True
b.
False

A concept test evaluates an existing product idea, after the creation of a prototype.
a.
True
b.
False

Daily Farm, a food and beverage manufacturing firm, is known for its unique variety of table sauces. To offer more variations to its customers, Daily Farm recently launched an olive and pepper sauce. According to new product development, this new sauce wo

In recent years, LEGO updated the packaging of its LEGO Friends line of toys to be more girl-friendly. It has also started to include bricks that can be used to make a pop star's house and a cupcake caf�. These efforts indicate that LEGO is repositioning

Profits rise rapidly in the growth stage of product lifecycle, reach their peak, and begin declining as competition intensifies.
a.
True
b.
False

Concept tests are considered relatively precise predictors of success for new products that are not copycat items, are not easily classified into existing product categories, and do not require major changes in consumer behavior.
a.
True
b.
False

Absolute failure of a new product occurs when it returns a profit but fails to achieve its sales goals, profit goals, or market share goals.
a.
True
b.
False

The growth stage of the product life cycle (PLC) represents the full-scale launch of a new product into the marketplace.
a.
True
b.
False

The rate of the decline of sales during the product life cycle is governed by how rapidly consumer tastes change or substitute products are adopted.
a.
True
b.
False

A process called 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is sometimes used to create three-dimensional prototypes quickly and at a relatively low cost.
a.
True
b.
False

It is during the product development stage that one asks questions such as: Would current customers benefit from the product? What new facilities, if any, would be needed? How might competitors respond? What is the risk of failure? Is the company willing

A message developed for and targeted toward early adopters of a new product will be perceived similarly by late majority adopters.
a.
True
b.
False

While word-of-mouth marketing is important to Millennials, actually getting them to discuss products concretely can be difficult.
a.
True
b.
False

Both demographics and behavior distinguish early adopters.
a.
True
b.
False

Fournotts Corp. manufactures and sells accessories for cell phones. To boost its sales, the research and development team decides to use product modification as an approach to new product development. In this scenario, the research and development team wi

Advertising and other promotional materials for a variety of products, including the test product, are shown to members of the product's target market. These people are then taken to shop at a mock or real store, where their purchases are recorded. This i

Which of the following is a characteristic of products produced by multinational corporations?
a.
Products are developed for global distribution and then tweaked to meet unique market requirements whenever possible.
b.
A firm that starts with a local stra

Hakimo Corp., a manufacturer of audio equipment, has developed a unique wireless speaker system that runs on solar power. The speakers can operate for 16 hours after being exposed to the sun for 2 hours. This product, which is radically different from any

Which of the following is the most important factor in successful new-product introduction?
a.
The features of the new product should be similar to its substitutes in the market.
b.
The product should not be developed using crowdsourcing.
c.
The new produ

When advertising a test product, should test locations in particular markets be isolated from media with a far reach, such as television?
a.
No, if media advertising cannot reach outside that particular market, it will fail to project the product's true p

Which of the following is characteristic of both early adopters and the early majority?
a.
Both groups tend to be opinion leaders.
b.
Both rely on group norms and values.
c.
Both desire to earn the respect of others.
d.
Both are influenced by social media

In the context of diffusion of innovation, the dominant value of laggards is _____.
a.
skepticism
b.
deliberateness
c.
adventure
d.
tradition

Compared to innovators, early adopters ______.
a.
rely less on group norms and values
b.
are less oriented to the local community
c.
are more likely to be opinion leaders
d.
have weaker affiliations with groups

Steven, a construction worker, tends to buy a new gadget if most of his friends have them and only after they've teased him about not having the gadget yet. He relies on reviews from his friends rather than on television or newspaper advertisements to mak

When predicting or explaining a new the rate of adoption and diffusion of a new product, relative advantage refers to the degree to which that product is ______.
a.
free of difficulty relating to its usage
b.
consistent with existing values
c.
perceived a

In comparison to early adopters, which of the following statements is true of the early majority?
a.
They are more likely to be opinion leaders.
b.
They are less likely to extend the adoption process.
c.
They are self-confident, and they rely less on grou

A company well-known for its easy-to-cook breakfast cereals was facing stiff competition from the many players in the market. The company changed its campaign to focus on dietary needs rather than just convenience, thus targeting a segment of consumers lo

The PLC for a brand that was the first and last competitor in a product form market is ______.
a.
said to be zero or nil
b.
longer than that of the product form
c.
shorter than that of the product form
d.
as long as that of the product form

Which is a limitation of the PLC concept?
a.
It does not tell managers the length of a product's life cycle or its duration in any stage.
b.
It can only dictate marketing strategy with forecasts of events depending on life cycle length.
c.
It only tells m

For which type of products are concept tests thought to be less effective in predicting the success of a product?
a.
Products that are line extensions (same product category and brand)
b.
Products that are not easily classified into existing product categ

Felicita Brewery wants to add brown ale beer to its existing list of alcoholic products. The questions the company currently is asking itself are: What is the likely demand for the product? What impact would the new product probably have on total sales, p

The beginning of which stage of the product life cycle is signaled by a long-run drop in a product's sales?
a.
Introductory stage
b.
Growth stage
c.
Maturity stage
d.
Decline stage

Which of the following statements is true of simulated market testing?
a.
It is often conducted on prototype models during the development stage.
b.
It is a useful tool for implementing simultaneous product development.
c.
It is the final stage in the new

To rate concept (or product) alternatives, concept tests are often used at the ______ stage.
a.
developmental
b.
business analysis
c.
marketing
d.
screening

Which of the following is a goal of brainstorming?
a.
To get a group to arrive at a solution within set parameters
b.
To get a group to promote a product without varying it
c.
To discuss ideas while avoiding criticism of them
d.
To have a group criticize

Innovators are eager to try new ideas and products, almost as an obsession. Which of the following is true of them?
a.
They are the first 12.5% of all those who adopt a product.
b.
They have higher incomes and are more self-confident.
c.
They are less wor

Which of the following provides an accurate contrast of product life cycle lengths?
a.
The PLC for a product form is usually longer than the PLC for any one brand.
b.
The PLC for a product category is usually shorter than the PLC for any one product form.

Which of the following describes the late majority?
a.
They adopt a new product because most of their friends have already adopted it.
b.
They do not rely on group norms and their adoption is free from pressure to conform.
c.
They tend to be younger and a

Which of the following products has the highest trialability?
a.
An airline
b.
A condominium
c.
A toothpaste
d.
An investment app

A marketing strategy that entails the creation of marketable new products; the process of converting applications for new technologies into marketable products is called ______.
a.
product development
b.
niche marketing
c.
idea screening
d.
commercializat

Steve, a retiree, wants to use his savings to open a day care facility for dogs. After deciding on the services that he would provide to his customers, he calculates costs versus the demand and the profit he could make depending on the volume of sales. Af

Identify a similarity between laggards and innovators.
a.
Neither relies on group norms.
b.
Neither is rooted in tradition.
c.
Both are eager to try new products.
d.
Both exhibit short adoption time.

Cleanz Inc., a toiletries manufacturing firm, has launched a new range of organic sanitizing wipes. It wants to test its consumers' reactions to this new product in an economical way. Therefore, Cleanz creates flyers that advertise several of its products

Which is a key characteristic of those in the early majority who purchase a new product?
a.
They do not spend much time weighing the pros and cons of adopting a new product.
b.
They are likely to collect less information and evaluate fewer brands than ear

When considering the new-product development process, which of the following statements is true of screening?
a.
It eliminates ideas that are inconsistent with an organization's new-product strategy.
b.
It calculates preliminary figures for demand, cost,

The final stage in the new-product development process is ______.
a.
business analysis
b.
development
c.
test marketing
d.
commercialization

Which of the following is a characteristic shared by both early majority and the late majority?
a.
Both tend to have opinion leaders within their groups.
b.
Both rely on science and experts for information.
c.
Both depend on word-of-mouth communication.
d

What do programs like Google X do to promote innovative thinking among its employees?
a.
They eliminate the fear of coming up with bad ideas by rewarding failure.
b.
They eliminate the possibility of investment in bad ideas by rewarding only successes.
c.

Marketing costs are high in the introductory stage of the product life cycle because
a.
product design changes become stylistic rather than functional.
b.
high dealer margins are often needed to obtain adequate distribution.
c.
manufacturers scramble to s

Besides its high cost, what is the other possible problem that test marketing is likely to face?
a.
The actions of competitors countering the test market may contribute to normalizing conditions that the testing firm might expect in the market.
b.
The pro

Jenny, the owner of an ice cream parlor, has been experimenting with different flavors to create a new exotic ice cream for her customers. After much deliberation and many tests, she decides to market the new Beet Cake with Black Walnut variant. In this s

Which is true of the influencers found among early adopters?
a.
They come from higher-income groups and are mostly in their 30s.
b.
They use media differently than other users who are considered followers.
c.
They are distinguished not by demographics but

Comparably speaking, which of the following would have the highest observability in terms of its rate of acceptance and diffusion?
a.
A new line of trousers
b.
A musical instrument
c.
A medicinal tea
d.
A social media app

A mobile telephone manufacturer markets a limited edition cell phone model with 126 different functions. The campaign failed across all 50 states in the United States. Which of the following is the most likely reason?
a.
The mobile simply wouldn't offer a

Which of the following statements best describes simultaneous product development?
a.
It is a strategy that provides general guidelines for generating, screening, and evaluating new-product ideas.
b.
It is used to determine the reactions of potential cust

The approach taken in the process of simultaneous product development leads a company to ______.
a.
lengthen the development process and incur increased costs
b.
shorten the development process and incur increased costs
c.
lengthen the development process

Which of the following is a disadvantage of test marketing?
a.
It requires major changes in consumer behavior such as rejecting microwave ovens.
b.
It promotes the criticism of an idea, no matter how ridiculous it may seem.
c.
It inaccurately predicts the

The objective of brainstorming is to ______.
a.
generate a large quantity of ideas through a process of rigorous objective evaluation
b.
generate a small set of distilled ideas through a process of rigorous objective evaluation
c.
postpone objective evalu

A new range of organic confectionary was introduced by Bounty Foods. The company is forced to give its dealer high margins and also needs to invest heavily in advertising. Their production costs are also high. In which PLC stage is the company most likely

A furniture manufacturer with a reputation for making plain, lightweight foldable steel chairs decides to make cushioned chairs with printed upholstery. The new type of chair will be a ______.
a.
product line extension
b.
discontinuous innovation
c.
repos

When developing new product, which is true of a new-product development strategy?
a.
It refrains from adopting ideas suggested by customers and competitors.
b.
It doesn't provide the general guidelines for new-product ideas.
c.
It must be compatible with

Which statement is true of the maturity stage of the product life cycle (PLC)?
a.
The beginning of this stage is signaled by increased sales.
b.
Niche marketers that target the underserved segments of a market emerge.
c.
It is the shortest stage of the PL

Which of the following is an objective of focus group interviews?
a.
To stimulate insightful comments through group interaction
b.
To directly involve customers in test marketing
c.
To reject ideas that are obviously inappropriate for some reason
d.
To el

Jason bought his first color television set after flat screen televisions were already widely diffused. He is most likely to be one among the ______.
a.
early adopters
b.
early majority
c.
late majority
d.
laggards

Roger, an affluent college graduate, buys gadgets on the day of their launch in the market. He reads expert reviews on the Internet, and is not influenced by the opinions of his family and friends while choosing products. Roger is most likely to belong to

When considering a product's characteristics and the rate of adoption, complexity refers to the degree to which a new product is ______.
a.
difficulty to understand and use the new product
b.
consistent with existing values
c.
perceived as superior to exi

Atwood Furnishers is experiencing a period when their sales are increasing at a slower rate. The company realizes that new users cannot be added indefinitely and that, sooner or later, its market will approach saturation. Which stage is the company now en

When considering the diffusion of innovation, which group is least motivated by advertising or personal selling?
a.
Laggards
b.
Innovators
c.
The late majority
d.
The early majority

Which of the following describes laggards?
a.
They have the shortest adoption time and the lowest socioeconomic status.
b.
They have the longest adoption time and the highest socioeconomic status.
c.
They have the longest adoption time and the lowest soci

Which statement is true of opinion leaders?
a.
They most likely belong to the late majority category of adopters.
b.
They speed up the diffusion process through word-of-mouth communication.
c.
They are distinguished by demographics.
d.
They have the longe

Which is a characteristic of fads?
a.
They can move through the entire cycle in weeks.
b.
They typically register a gradual and unpredictable spike in sales.
c.
They peak slowly but then register a rather abrupt decline.
d.
They stay in the maturity stage

Nozzle is a specially designed product that retro fits into your existing water faucet and atomizes the water stream in a spray that lets you use 98% less water when washing hands, brushing teeth, and washing produce or dishes. Some consider this a game c

At which stage in the new-product development process is the decision to market a product made?
a.
Commercialization
b.
Test marketing
c.
Development
d.
Business analysis

Which of the following statements describes a customer innovation center?
a.
It is an approach to repositioning a company's products using sales figures.
b.
It promotes advertising among status-conscious customers.
c.
It is a forum for meeting with custom

Which of the following is an advantage of simultaneous product development?
a.
It shortens the development process and reduces costs.
b.
It eliminates the need for conducting laboratory tests on product prototypes.
c.
It ensures that product development o

When predicting or explaining the rate of acceptance and diffusion of a new product, the degree to which it can be sampled on a limited basis is its ______.
a.
compatibility
b.
trialability
c.
observability
d.
complexity

In which way does the concept of product life cycle (PLC) help marketing managers?
a.
It tells managers the length of a product's life cycle.
b.
It helps marketers forecast future events and suggest appropriate strategies.
c.
It dictates the marketing str

In test marketing, the greatest danger is in choosing a test-site city that ______.
a.
does not reflect market conditions in the new product's projected market area
b.
is unique in being representative of the entire city, although it is unlike neighboring

Magnira Corp. is an apparel company. After a slow start, it saw a steep rise in the number of its customers and a remarkable increase in its profits. However, with the launch of competing apparel manufacturers in the market, the profits of Magnira have st

Samsung is best known for its smartphones, tablets, and televisions. Years ago when it decided to expand its business activities and operations into ship building and military hardware, it was gearing to offer ______.
a.
discontinuous innovations
b.
new p

NutriOats, an oatmeal cookie product, has been in the market for more than seven years and is now in its decline stage. In this case, which of the following strategies would be successful in marketing NutriOats?
a.
Lengthen the product line.
b.
Focus on a

Test marketing is very expensive. As a result which of the following is true of some companies?
a.
They go for a national introduction than an expensive test market.
b.
They do not test market line extensions of well-known brands to save costs.
c.
It is b

Which of the following statements is true of the development stage of the new-product development process?
a.
Costs decrease dramatically once a product idea enters the development stage.
b.
The development stage involves evaluating a new-product idea bef

Which of the following statements is true of the product life cycle (PLC)?
a.
The PLC dictates the marketing strategy to be used for a product.
b.
A product spends the same amount of time in the different stages of the life cycle.
c.
The PLC for a product

A source suggested to Rubbermaid the idea of the Sidekick, a litter-free lunch box. Rubbermaid could place some of its plastic containers inside a lunch box and sell the box as an alternative to plastic wrap and paper bags. The source saw this opportunity

Which of the following is characteristic of both early adopters in the early majority?

What is the difference between the population of early adopters and early majority?

What is true of early adopters?

What are the characteristics of early majority?