Chapter 13

Consumer Influence and the

Diffusion of Innovations

Consumer Behaviour
Canadian Edition
Schiffman/Kanuk/Das

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Pearson Education Canada Inc.
 Opinion Leadership

 The process by which one person (the

opinion leader) informally influences the
consumption actions or attitudes of others
who may be opinion seekers or opinion
recipients

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 What is Opinion Leadership?

Opinion
Opinion
Leader
Receiver

Opinion
Seeker

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 Special Issues
 Opinion leaders are four times more likely to
be asked about political issues, three times
more likely to be asked about computers or
investments, and twice as likely to be asked
about restaurants
 Information seekers seek a “strong-tie”
source when they know little about a topic,
and “weak-tie” sources when they have some
knowledge
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 Purchase Pals and Surrogate
Buyers

 Purchase Pals
– Information sources who accompany a
consumer on a shopping trip
 Surrogate Buyers
– Professional buyers who help consumers with
their purchases

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 (continued)

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Figure 13-1 (continued)

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 Market Maven

 Individuals whose influence stems from a

general knowledge or market expertise that
leads to an early awareness of new products
and services.

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 Motivations Behind Opinion
Leadership
 The Needs of Opinion Leaders
– To reduce their own post-purchase dissonance
– For tangential personal benefits
– Because of high levels of product involvement
– Because of message involvement
» continued

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 Motivations Behind Opinion
Leadership
 Motivations of Opinion Seekers
– To obtain new product or new usage
information
– To reduce their risk by getting knowledge
– To reduce search time
– To receive the approval of the opinion leader

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 Reasons for the Effectiveness of
Opinion Leadership
 Credibility
 Positive and Negative Product Information
 Information and Advice
 Opinion Leadership Is Category-Specific
 Opinion Leadership Is a Two-way Street

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 The Interpersonal Flow of
Communication
 Two-Step Flow
– A communication model that portrays opinion
leaders as direct receivers of information from
mass media sources who, in turn, interpret and
transmit this information.
 Multi-step Flow
– A revision of the traditional two-step theory
that shows multiple communication flows

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 Measuring Opinion Leadership
OPINION LEADERSHIP
SAMPLE
MEASUREMENT DESCRIPTION OF METHOD
QUESTIONS ASKED
METHOD

SELF-DESIGNATING Each respondent is asked a “Do you influence

METHOD series of questions to other people in their
determine the degree to which selection of
he or she perceives himself or products?”
herself to be an opinion leader.

SOCIOMETRIC Members of a social system are “Whom do you

METHOD asked to identify to whom they ask?”“Who asks you
give advice and to whom they for info about that
go for advice. product category?”

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 Measuring Opinion Leadership -
continued
OPINION
SAMPLE
LEADERSHIP
DESCRIPTION OF METHOD QUESTIONS
MEASUREMENT
ASKED
METHOD

KEY INFORMANT Carefully selected key informants in “Who are the most
METHOD a social system are asked to influential people in
designate opinion leaders. the group?”

OBJECTIVE Artificially places individuals in a “Have you tried the

METHOD position to act as opinion leaders product?
and measures results of their efforts.

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 Opinion Leadership and
Marketing Strategy
 Identify and provide samples to opinion
leaders
 Design programs to stimulate opinion
leadership
 Develop ads simulating opinion leadership
 Create opinion leaders
 Control negative word-of-mouth
communication
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 Diffusion Process

 The process by which the acceptance of an

innovation is spread by communication to
members of social system over a period of
time.

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 Adoption Process

 The stages through which an individual

consumer passes in arriving at a decision to
try (or not to try), to continue using (or
discontinue using) a new product.

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 Defining Innovations

 Firm-oriented definitions
 Product-oriented definitions
 Market-oriented definitions
 Consumer-oriented definitions

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 Product-Oriented Definitions
Continuous
Innovation

Dynamically
Continuous
Innovation

Discontinuous
Innovation

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 Factors That Affect the Diffusion
of Innovations
 The Innovation
 The Channels of Communication
 The Social System
 Time

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 Product Characteristics That
Influence Diffusion
 Relative Advantage
 Compatibility
 Complexity
 Trialability
 Observability
 Felt Need
 Risk

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 Social System and Diffusion
 Does the target market have:
– A positive attitude towards change?
– Technological skill?
– A general respect for education and science?
– A focus on rational and ordered social
relationship?
– An outreach perspective?
– The ability to accept different roles?

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 Time and Diffusion

 Purchase Time
 Adopter Categories
 Rate of Adoption

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 Adopter Categories

 A sequence of categories that describes how

early (or late) a consumer adopts a new
product in relation to other adopters.

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 Innovators: Description

• 2.5% of population
• Venturesome
• Very eager to try new ideas
• Acceptable if risk is daring
• More cosmopolite social relationships
• Communicates with other innovators

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 Early Adopters: Description

• 13.5% of population
• Respected
• More integrated into the local social system
• The persons to check with before adopting a new
idea
• Category contains greatest number of opinion
leaders
• Are role models

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 Early Majority: Description

• 34% of population
• Deliberate
• Adopt new ideas just prior to the average time
• Seldom hold leadership positions
• Deliberate for some time before adopting

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 Late Majority: Description

• 34% of population
• Skeptical
• Adopt new ideas just after the average time
• Adopting may be both an economic necessity and
a reaction to peer pressures
• Innovations approached cautiously

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 Laggards: Description

• 16% of population
• Traditional
• The last people to adopt an innovation
• Most “localite” in outlook
• Oriented to the past
• Suspicious of the new

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 Rate of Adoption

 Insert Figure 13-16 A, B and C as small

graphs; if that is not possible, then have one
or two of them.

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 The Profile of a Consumer
Innovator
 Interest in the Product Category
 The Innovator Is an Opinion Leader
 Personality Traits
 Purchase and consumption characteristics
 Media Habits
 Social Characteristics
 Demographic Characteristics
 Are There Generalized Consumer Innovators?

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Diffusion Process and Marketing
Strategy
 Identify diffusion inhibitors and find ways
to compensate for these
 Identify innovators and early adopters and
cater to them
 Move consumers from awareness to
adoption
 Make effective use of word-of-mouth
communications
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