What is the Innovation Adoption Model in consumer behaviour?

The ultimate goal of any company is to motivate customers to buy their products. However, the consumer goes through different stages or a series of steps before making the actual purchase. 

These stages can be understood more clearly by the three different consumer response hierarchy models, wherein a company seeks a cognitive, emotional, and behavioural response. At first, a company engages the consumer by putting information in the consumer’s mind; then, it tries to change the attitude and propels the consumer to act and buy the product. 

The three consumer response hierarchy models :

1. AIDA model by E K Strong: The most commonly used model is the AIDA model, which stands for attention, interest, desire, and action. E K Strong posits that a company needs to get the attention of the consumer in regards to the product. Engagement leads to the generation of interest and, subsequently, desire, which ultimately leads to action in the form of purchase. 

2. Hierarchy of effects model by Robert J. Lavidge and Gary A. Steiner: It talks about the two stages in the cognitive process: awareness and knowledge, leading to liking preference and conviction in the effective stage, leading to purchase. 

3. Innovation adoption model by Everett M. Rogers: Taking the model toward innovation, Everett M. Rogers theorises that awareness goes on to interest and evaluation in the effective stage and manifests to trial and adoption.

While the AIDA model is widely applicable across products, it is better suited for low involvement and low-cost purchases like potato chips, ice cream, soft drinks, etc. 

For costlier and higher involvement purchases, like consumer durables, generally, the consumer goes through six stages of the hierarchy of effects model.

However, an innovative or technological product requires that the consumer clearly understands the benefits. That’s why an actual purchase happens in the process of interest, evaluation, trial, and then adoption. 

What is the innovation adoption model in consumer behaviour?

According to the innovation adoption model, adapters of innovators are classified according to their readiness to accept new ideas. Adoption characteristics are assigned to groups to show that all inventions go through a predictable process before getting broadly adopted.

The group consists of:

1. Innovators: They are risk-takers and adventurers eager to try new ideas and are the first to adopt an innovation. Innovators make up about 2.5 per cent of the population.

2. Early adopters: Early adopters are considered opinion leaders and usually have significant respect within the community. They make up the next ten to fifteen per cent of the population to adopt an innovation or concept.

3. Early majority: Although they frequently adopt innovations or ideas before the general public, they do so only after much thought and research. They account for around a third of the entire population.

4. Late majority: These individuals adopt innovations or ideas shortly after the average population. They tend to be sceptical and adopt based on economic necessity or social pressure. They represent about one-third of the total population.

5. Laggards: These are the traditionalists of the population, grounded in the past and make decisions based on what was done previously. They tend to be suspicious of innovations and ideas, innovators, and change agents. Laggards comprise approximately 16% of the total population.

Five steps of the adoption process:

1. Awareness

The phase in which a client is fully informed of a product or service or when a new product is available on the market is known as awareness. At this phase, advertising should focus on the latest product’s features and benefits. It will let the customer tell the difference between the product and a prior model or that of a competitor.

2. Interest

The customer’s interest is the second stage, in which they find the product appealing. Now, the new product has begun to gain traction in the market, and customers have become more knowledgeable about the product. If customers are looking for a specific function, it is time to gauge if this product includes the desired feature.

3. Evaluate

As customers start liking the product, they begin to evaluate it more thoroughly by conducting an in-depth analysis. Customers research to check if there are any other products with identical features or benefits on the market. They evaluate the cost and other expenses that are to be incurred.

4. Trial

Consumer trials are essential to launching a new product on the market. Consumers can try a product risk-free before buying it, thanks to product trials and samples. If the product is intended for long-term usage, the trial will also assist the company in generating leads since customers gain confidence in the product.

5. Adoption

Product adoption is when customers are ready to purchase a product when they recognise its significance. If this stage is not simple enough, the consumers might leave without making a purchase.

How does the Innovation adoption model work?

Awareness of a new idea is accomplished when consumers first receive and absorb information about the product. Trial and adoption usually follow as the understanding grows.

For instance, a brand might employ various educational delivery techniques to raise innovation awareness, such as a new corn variety that needs less water and is pest resilient. Once corn growers know the new corn variety, they may generate sufficient interest to obtain additional insight and understanding.

With this new information, farmers can start weighing the risks and benefits of testing the new variety. Finally, they decide whether to try it or not. If the trial is deemed a success, there is a greater likelihood that the idea will be adopted. Over time, consumer innovation in consumer behaviour generates higher profitability. During every stage of the process, the provider must offer knowledge and expertise to promote the adoption of the new corn variety.

There will often be a long period between the launch of the new concept and its adoption. The degree to which this time lag is reduced or the rate of adoption is increased is often used as a metric for idea/ product success.

Challenges of consumer behaviour

Consumers face several unique problems as they may not be well equipped or informed. Many consumers are ignorant, and in such situations, the marketer may end up exploiting them. At times, brands advertise their products not to serve the public but to dispose of their dead products at a good profit. 

Consumers become easy victims in the absence of information or by purchasing substandard and defective products. Unfortunately, the consumer must depend on the present market’s condition. Market conditions are constantly changing thanks to economic change and modifications in marketing policy systems. New commodities are introduced into the market every day; however, the product’s basic knowledge and information are often unavailable, and consumers cannot decide which product is more suitable to meet their requirements. 

A single product may be available across various brands, making it difficult for the consumer to make the right choice. Misleading advertisements, gifts, discounts, and similar promotional methods may confuse consumers, preventing them from choosing the right fit.