Arena: Disciplined Social Innovation
Diffusion of Innovations III
Introduction
Explore an observable pattern of how groups of people adopt (or not) innovations. This bell-shaped pattern is called a Diffusion Curve or Adoption Curve. Potential adopters can be grouped into five generalized tendencies regarding when they will adopt a new product, service or idea: Pioneers, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards.
Every innovation has a unique adoption curve in terms of market size – but within every market there are distinct groups and stages that will affect how the innovation diffuses. This understanding is key to designing effective communication and marketing strategies. Messaging should change as the innovation diffuses in order to meet the needs of different stage adopters.