Early Adopters curve and how they impacted in tech industries

Let us begin this article with a question… What type of consumer do you consider yourself to be? Are you one of those who are always on the lookout for the newest in the market? Do you always like to have the latest of the latest? If you answered yes to these questions, you are an Early Adopter! 

Have you ever heard of Early Adopters? It is key to understand this concept if we are planning a new business, because being able to capture this market segment is essential for a successful business launch. 

Let’s see what Early Adopters are all about…

What are Early Adopters?

Early Adopters are those people who become the first buyers of new products or services launched on the market. 

They are those consumers who are willing to try new products, even with the risk of buying a product that is not very popular and has not been tested by other people. They are attracted by innovation and that is why they become great influencers in the purchase decision of other consumers. 

This term comes from the book “The Diffusion of Innovation” written by Everett Rogers. According to this author, a new product or service is consolidated in society after passing through different market segments. In this regard, Early Adopters are extremely important because they become the pioneers in introducing a new product into society. 

3 features of Early Adopters

Now that we know who the Early Adopters are, you’re probably wondering how to identify them. Of course! It’s essential that we take them into account when designing a launch strategy since, conquering their hearts, should be our main goal when we begin our startup. Let’s take a look at some of their features …

They like new things

These consumers are usually comfortable with change. They like innovation and are always looking for new things. They are not people who find it hard to change habits, on the contrary, they are willing to do so. 

They are opinion shapers

Early Adopters are known for being very sociable people. They are usually those people close to us, from whom we seek recommendations when we need to make a purchase, because they are always informed of all trends. That is why they are great opinion shapers and they influence the purchasing decisions of those around them. 

They are critical and demanding

The fact that they like new products does not mean that they consume non-stop. On the contrary, Early Adopters are very critical when it comes to selecting which products or services they will consume. They need to quickly understand what solution is that product or service offering them.

Why take Early Adopters into account when launching a new product or service?

With everything we’ve said so far, surely you have no doubts about the importance of Early Adopters when launching a new product or service to the market. Let’s see how the process works according to the technology adoption curve proposed by Everett Rogers in the book mentioned above. 

The technology adoption curve shows the process of acceptance of a new product or technology, according to various demographic studies of each group in a population. 

According to this author, the curve can be summarized as follows: 

In this model we can clearly see 5 social segments: 

• Innovators.
• Early Adopters.
• Early Majority.
• Late Majority. 
• Laggards. 

And from the way the curve progresses we can see that after launching a product, a small group of innovators know about it (generally a very small group) and then the Early Adopters come, who are a much larger group than the first ones and they are those who are willing to try an innovative product even though they do not have any knowledge of it. From the consumption of these Early Adopters, the rest of the market is more confident in adopting the innovation. 

It’s because of this ability to influence the rest of the market that conquering the Early Adopters and speaking to them with a very clear and targeted message is fundamental in the launch of any new product or service, but especially if we are talking about technology startups. 

How did Apple conquer its Early Adopters? 

A great example to understand the importance of Early Adopters in a launch process is Apple’s Iphone launch. How did this company make the Iphone a massively desired item? 

Well, the technology adoption curve is very clear in this case. At first, when Steve Jobs launched the Iphone, only a small group of innovators who closely followed the brand’s latest developments purchased the product. However, it was not until the launch in 2017 that Early Adopters fell in love with this new device that promised all kinds of solutions just a couple of clicks away. 

It was this promise of innovation that won the hearts of Early Adopters who took it upon themselves to test the smartphones and spread their impressions to other consumers. 

It was after Early Adopters took the risk of testing an innovative but expensive product and after they communicated their impressions of it, that the rest of society began to understand this product as necessary. Of course, the product in question has to be of quality and offer a real solution. Otherwise it will not work.  

We could summarize Apple’s strategy in three simple steps: 

• Special launch for its Early Adopters.
• Clear and attractive promise.
• A product that delivered on that promise. 

Now that you understand the importance of Early Adopters, you only have to think of strategies to conquer their hearts… Can you think of any? We’ll read you in the comments!