Ipad came out in Japan finally on May 28th, a few weeks after its first sale in the states.
Did you wait in line for hours and hours to buy an Ipad, knowing that Apple would probably produce something better and cheaper in the next few months?
If you did, you are one of the early adopters.
These early adopters are considered irrational buyers in economics. However, for business managers, they are essential consumer targets.
The study of consumer behavior says that early adopters are not affected by cost-benefits reasoning. It is more of their identity associations with new products and attention getting behaviors.
Jay Pil Choi, a professor at Michigan State University, describes early adopters as pioneers, with the comment, "If all consumers are striving for value and take the approach of 'wait and see,' the new products will never be able to take off much longer to succeed in the marketplace."
So without these people who wait in a line for hours and hours, IPad would have never made it in the market.
So marketing managers better appreciate these people, and maybe consider giving them a cup of coffee while they wait in line.
Applause, Please, for Early Adopters
thank you for posting this :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not an early adopter, I usually do a lot of search on the internet before I actually purchase the product... (and by the way how do you categorize this type of consumers?
I think I'm neither early or late(?) adopter because I don't buy it right away,I don't wait for the product to get cheap, I just wait for people to post comments about the product on their blog. This way I can decide whether to buy the product or not easily.
ReplyDeleteIf I wait for the price to go down, then I'm afraid new version will come out after I purchase.. like my iphone....
Sonia-
ReplyDeleteI do not have the marketing textbook, but I believe there are 3 or 4 ways to categorize the consumers.
I can get back to you!
Dennis-
ReplyDeleteI think that's where most of people stand. I am like that too.
That's especially the reason why that we should value the early adopters for their comments and experiences.