MKF2111 · Buyer Behaviour
Innovation, Consumer Well-Being & Ethics
The final chapter is the CB Outcomes & Issues block. It covers innovation types (continuous → dynamically continuous → discontinuous), the difference between adoption and diffusion, the diffusion S-curve with adopter categories and the chasm, and Rogers' adoption attributes. It closes with consumer well-being and ethics — self-control, marketing to children, the environment and consumer privacy. The oral often asks you to diagnose a stalled product with the diffusion framework or to argue an ethics position.
What this chapter covers
- 011. Innovation types by degree of behaviour change: continuous (minor) → dynamically continuous → discontinuous (brand-new)
- 022. Adoption (one buyer's decision) vs diffusion (spread through the whole market)
- 033. Diffusion S-curve: cumulative adoption over time — slow start, steep middle, saturation
- 044. Adopter categories (Rogers): innovators → early adopters → early majority → late majority → laggards
- 055. The chasm: the gap between early adopters and the early majority where many products stall
- 066. Rogers' adoption attributes: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity (−), trialability, observability; plus perceived risk (−)
- 077. Well-being & self-control: short-term pleasure vs long-term well-being; social & temporal dilemmas
- 088. Ethics: marketing to children, the environment, and consumer privacy (intrusion, data, opt-in/opt-out)
Oral-exam answer: diagnose a stalled product with the diffusion framework
- GOOD: framework + locationDEFINE and locate. Adopters follow Rogers' categories — innovators → early adopters → early majority → late majority → laggards — and cumulative adoption traces an S-curve (slow, then steep, then saturating). The bottle is stuck at the chasm between early adopters and the pragmatic early majority, so it hasn't reached the steep middle of the curve.
- GOOD: attributes appliedAPPLY Rogers' attributes. To cross the chasm, raise relative advantage (a clearer benefit vs a normal bottle), improve compatibility (fit existing routines), cut complexity (a simpler app), boost trialability (a cheap trial or loaner) and observability/social relevance (a visible, status-signalling design).
- OUTSTANDING: risk + cross-the-chasm strategyReduce risk and give the IMPLICATION. Lower perceived risk with a warranty and proof. Implication: target the pragmatic early majority with a whole-product, social proof and reduced risk — the early-majority buyer needs reassurance the enthusiasts did not.
Key terms
- Innovation types
- Innovations classified by how much consumer behaviour change they require: continuous (a minor change, e.g. a line extension), dynamically continuous (a pronounced change, often new technology) and discontinuous (brand-new, with no prior reference behaviour).
- Adoption vs diffusion
- Adoption is an individual or household's decision to take up an innovation (following a hierarchy from awareness to trial to adoption); diffusion is the spread of that innovation through the whole market over time.
- Diffusion S-curve
- The typically S-shaped curve of cumulative adoption over time: a slow start (innovators/early adopters), a steep middle (the majorities) and saturation (laggards); a steeper curve means faster diffusion.
- Adopter categories & the chasm
- Rogers' five groups — innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards — by readiness to adopt; 'the chasm' is the difficult gap between the early adopters and the pragmatic early majority where many products stall.
- Rogers' adoption attributes
- The factors that speed or slow adoption: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity (which slows it), trialability and observability/social relevance, plus perceived risk (which also slows it).
- Consumer privacy
- An ethics issue covering intrusion, the sale of personal data and identity theft; addressed through transparency and opt-in/opt-out consent — part of the unit's broader well-being and ethics agenda.
Innovation, Consumer Well-Being & Ethics FAQ
What's the difference between adoption and diffusion?
Adoption is at the level of one consumer — the decision process by which an individual or household takes up a new product (awareness → trial → adoption). Diffusion is at the level of the whole market — how that innovation spreads across the population over time, traced by the S-curve and the adopter categories. One is micro, the other macro.
What is 'the chasm' and why do products fall into it?
The chasm is the gap between early adopters (visionaries who tolerate rough products) and the early majority (pragmatists who want a proven, complete solution). Products fall in because what wins enthusiasts — novelty and potential — doesn't reassure pragmatists, who need relative advantage, low complexity, easy trial and reduced risk before they'll buy. Crossing it requires a different, whole-product strategy.
Which of Rogers' attributes matter most?
Relative advantage (a clear benefit over the alternative) and compatibility (fit with existing routines and values) are usually the biggest drivers, while complexity and perceived risk are the biggest brakes. Trialability and observability help by lowering the cost and uncertainty of trying. A marketer crossing the chasm works all five plus risk reduction.
How are the ethics topics examined?
Usually as an explain-and-apply or position question: identify the ethical issue (self-control and temptation, marketing to children as a vulnerable audience, environmental impact, or consumer privacy) and discuss the marketer's responsibility and the policy response (e.g. transparency and opt-in for privacy). A balanced answer that names the issue and the response earns the higher bands.
Exam move
Split this chapter into two halves and prepare each as an oral answer. For diffusion, learn the S-curve, the five adopter categories and the chasm cold, and rehearse diagnosing a stalled real product, then prescribing fixes against Rogers' attributes plus risk reduction — name the chasm and at least three attributes. For ethics, prepare a balanced position on each issue (self-control, children, environment, privacy) that names the issue and the policy/marketer response, since ethics questions reward nuance over a one-sided take. Link back across the unit for the top band — adoption uses the decision process (Weeks 7–9), and observability/social relevance is social influence (Week 11). Close every answer with the marketing or policy implication.
