The Consumer Adoption Process

[Lisa Doupe]

According to Kotler and Keller (2012, p.589) adoption is when a consumer makes a conscious decision to use a product on a regular basis.  The "consumer-adoption process" is the steps a consumer mentally goes through from hearing about an innovation to finally adopting the product.  Innovation is any product, service or idea that a consumer perceives is new, even if it is not actually new.  The steps in this process are awareness (the consumer becomes aware of the innovation but doesn't have information about it); interest (the consumer is motivated to seek more information); evaluation ( the consumer considers information gained about the innovation); trial (the consumer utilizes the innovation to decide if the innovation is valuable to them); adoption (the consumer decided to regularly utilize the innovation).  

A product marketer must facilitate consumers transition through the stages in order to assure product adoption.  If a consumer gets stuck in one stage they won't buy the innovation because of their uncertainty and fear of investing in a product that they are not sure about.  It is important for marketers to recognize that in the adoption process there are differences in each consumers readiness to try new products and must adjust marketing strategies to accommodate these differences (Kotler and Keller 2012). What marketing ideas would be appropriate to utilize for a new innovation to reach all consumer levels?  What are the marketing benefits to just focusing in early adopters?