Wondering why some products take off while others stall? The technology adoption life cycle sorts people into five groups, from innovators to laggards, by how soon they embrace something new. Here is how each group behaves.
If you want the wider picture of how new ideas spread and succeed, start with what is innovation.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Number of adopter groups | Five |
| Adopter profiles first specified by agricultural researchers | 1956 |
| Rogers’s book Diffusion of Innovations | 1962 |
| Crossing the Chasm first published | 1991 |
| Typically the largest group | Early majority |
| Early market segment | The first two groups (innovators and early adopters) |
These figures come from Wikipedia’s entry on the model and TechTarget’s definition. Figures can change, so check the source before you rely on them.
What the technology adoption life cycle describes
According to Wikipedia, the model is a sociological model that describes how a new product or innovation gets accepted, based on the demographic and psychological characteristics of defined adopter groups. It is not a law of nature. It is a way of describing who tends to say yes first, and who waits.
The process of adoption over time is typically drawn as a bell curve, a classical normal distribution. As TechTarget puts it, one side of the curve shows where the lifecycle begins, with innovators, and the other side shows where it ends, with laggards.
The curve exists because people rarely agree at once. TechTarget notes that there is seldom unanimous consensus among potential customers on the value of a new product: some want it right away, while others wait to see whether it is a wise investment.
The five adopter groups
Marketing experts broadly agree that the public can be separated into five groups by how eager people are to embrace new tech products and services. TechTarget adds that different adaptations of the model use different names, but the descriptions hold whatever the label.
- Innovators. The first group, made up of innovators and developers who bring forward new products. They must convince the other groups that the product is useful.
- Early adopters. Enthusiastic about technology trends. They are often young and financially stable enough to afford expensive new products.
- Early majority. Also known as pragmatists, and typically the largest group. They are risk-averse and must be convinced that the product will fulfil their essential needs.
- Late majority. They wait until average consumers in their communities have bought a product and verified that it is practical.
- Laggards. This group has very little interest in technology, or never buys the product at all. It skews older and is the most skeptical of technological change.
The first two groups are known as the early market segment, while the other three make up the mainstream market. Wikipedia also notes that the last group to adopt a product is sometimes called “phobics”, and gives the example of someone who uses a cloud service only when it is the sole remaining way to perform a required task.
Where the model came from
The model extends an earlier idea called the diffusion process, which Wikipedia says was originally published in 1956 by George M. Beal and Joe M. Bohlen. TechTarget adds that they found farmers wanted to learn about products from media advertising and word-of-mouth experiences before buying.
In that same year, agricultural researchers specified the profile of each adopter group. As Wikipedia summarises them:
- Innovators: had larger farms, were more educated, more prosperous and more risk-oriented.
- Early adopters: younger, more educated, tended to be community leaders, less prosperous.
- Early majority: more conservative but open to new ideas, active in the community and an influence on neighbours.
- Late majority: older, less educated, fairly conservative and less socially active.
- Laggards: very conservative, with small farms and little capital, the oldest and least educated.
The first Beal and Bohlen article did not acknowledge Beal’s Ph.D. student Everett M. Rogers, though the three soon co-authored a scholarly article on their methodology. Rogers generalised the process beyond the agricultural sector of the midwestern USA and popularised it in his 1962 book Diffusion of Innovations, now in its fifth edition, according to Wikipedia.
Wikipedia adds that the model was adapted for many areas of technology adoption in the late 20th century, for example in the spread of policy innovations among U.S. states.
The chasm between early adopters and the mainstream
Geoffrey Moore adapted the model in his book Crossing the Chasm, first published in 1991, according to TechTarget. He describes a chasm between the early market and the mainstream market, because mainstream customers are not receptive to recommendations from the early adopter group.
To cross it, marketers must focus on the most receptive segment of the early majority. Once a small group of early majority adopters exists, those people can help convince others, because word of mouth and user experiences are crucial for gaining traction with the mainstream.
Rayna and Striukova (2009) argue that the choice of the first market segment matters a great deal for crossing the chasm, as Wikipedia reports. In their view, that segment has to meet three conditions at once:
- It contains a large proportion of visionaries.
- It is small enough for adoption to be observed from within the segment and from other segments.
- It is sufficiently connected with other segments.
The same source separates this model from Clayton M. Christensen’s version of disruption, which it describes as not s-curve based. A separate explainer on what is disruptive innovation covers that idea in full.
Why does the model matter to businesses?
By dividing people into groups, the model helps businesses target their marketing and sales campaigns, according to TechTarget. The same source points to three practical uses:
- Tailoring marketing efforts to the needs of specific groups, which can bring a competitive advantage.
- Expanding a product’s reach beyond a small group of fellow tech enthusiasts.
- Recognising the risks of trying to reach the more resistant groups too quickly.
Real products show the pattern. TechTarget describes how early adopters rushed to embrace Apple’s iPhone while the public at large took longer to fold it into daily life, and how some people embraced social media sites much quicker than others.
Adaptations and limits of the model
The model has spawned a range of adaptations that extend it or apply it to specific domains, as listed by Wikipedia:
- Lindy McKeown’s pencil metaphor for the uptake of information and communications technology in education.
- Carl May’s normalization process theory, which shows how technologies become embedded in health care and other organisations.
- Wenger, White and Smith’s technology stewards, people who guide a community through the adoption process.
- Warren Schirtzinger’s Customer Alignment Lifecycle, which describes five business disciplines that follow the sequence of technology adoption.
A single curve also leaves out the influence of peers. Wikipedia explains that people’s behaviours are shaped by their peers and by how widespread they think an action is, so some researchers model adoption on networks of connected people instead.
To test the five groups on a different subject, try reading about what is quantum computing.
Frequently asked questions
What are the five stages of the technology adoption life cycle?
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They are innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards, as described by TechTarget. The first two form the early market and the other three the mainstream market.
Who created the model?
Show answer
It grew out of the diffusion process published in 1956 by Beal and Bohlen. Everett Rogers popularised it in his 1962 book Diffusion of Innovations, according to Wikipedia.
What is the chasm?
Show answer
It is the gap Geoffrey Moore described between the early market and the mainstream market. Mainstream customers are not receptive to recommendations from early adopters, so a product can stall there.
Which group is the largest?
Show answer
The early majority, also known as pragmatists, is typically the largest group, according to TechTarget.
Does it only apply to consumer gadgets?
Show answer
No. Wikipedia notes that it began with farmers and has been adapted to education, health care and the spread of policy innovations among U.S. states.
