IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/mktlet/v18y2007i1p15-30.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Lead users and the adoption and diffusion of new products: Insights from two extreme sports communities

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Schreier
  • Stefan Oberhauser
  • Reinhard Prügl

Abstract

Lead users are proposed as a valuable resource for marketers in terms of the (1) development, (2) adoption, and (3) diffusion of new products. We present the first consumer study to provide evidence that the latter two suggestions are justified. First, we find that lead users demonstrate stronger domain-specific innovativeness than more “ordinary” users. Second, lead users perceive new technologies as less “complex” and might therefore be better prepared to adopt them. Third, we find that lead users demonstrate stronger opinion leadership and weaker opinion seeking tendencies. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for the marketing of new products. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Schreier & Stefan Oberhauser & Reinhard Prügl, 2007. "Lead users and the adoption and diffusion of new products: Insights from two extreme sports communities," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 15-30, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:18:y:2007:i:1:p:15-30
    DOI: 10.1007/s11002-006-9009-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11002-006-9009-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11002-006-9009-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Punj, Girish N & Staelin, Richard, 1983. "A Model of Consumer Information Search Behavior for New Automobiles," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 9(4), pages 366-380, March.
    2. Gatignon, Hubert & Robertson, Thomas S, 1985. "A Propositional Inventory for New Diffusion Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 11(4), pages 849-867, March.
    3. Calder, Bobby J & Phillips, Lynn W & Tybout, Alice M, 1981. "Designing Research for Application," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 8(2), pages 197-207, September.
    4. Midgley, David F & Dowling, Grahame R, 1978. "Innovativeness: The Concept and Its Measurement," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 4(4), pages 229-242, March.
    5. Glen L. Urban & Eric von Hippel, 1988. "Lead User Analyses for the Development of New Industrial Products," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(5), pages 569-582, May.
    6. Labay, Duncan G & Kinnear, Thomas C, 1981. "Exploring the Consumer Decision Process in the Adoption of Solar Energy Systems," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 8(3), pages 271-278, December.
    7. Ostlund, Lyman E, 1974. "Perceived Innovation Attributes as Predictors of Innovativeness," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 1(2), pages 23-29, Se.
    8. Robert Tietz & Pamela D. Morrison & Christian Luthje & Cornelius Herstatt, 2005. "The process of user-innovation: a case study in a consumer goods setting," International Journal of Product Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(4), pages 321-338.
    9. Flynn, Leisa Reinecke & Goldsmith, Ronald E. & Eastman, Jacqueline K., 1994. "The King and Summers opinion leadership scale: Revision and refinement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 55-64, September.
    10. Morrison, Pamela D. & Roberts, John H. & Midgley, David F., 2004. "The nature of lead users and measurement of leading edge status," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 351-362, March.
    11. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Roehrich, Gilles, 2004. "Consumer innovativeness: Concepts and measurements," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(6), pages 671-677, June.
    13. Pamela D. Morrison & John H. Roberts & Eric von Hippel, 2000. "Determinants of User Innovation and Innovation Sharing in a Local Market," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(12), pages 1513-1527, December.
    14. Gruner, Kjell E. & Homburg, Christian, 2000. "Does Customer Interaction Enhance New Product Success?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 1-14, July.
    15. Franke, Nikolaus & Shah, Sonali, 2003. "How communities support innovative activities: an exploration of assistance and sharing among end-users," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 157-178, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Morrison, Pamela D. & Roberts, John H. & Midgley, David F., 2004. "The nature of lead users and measurement of leading edge status," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 351-362, March.
    2. Johan Jansson, 2011. "Consumer eco‐innovation adoption: assessing attitudinal factors and perceived product characteristics," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 192-210, March.
    3. Alexander Brem & Volker Bilgram & Adele Gutstein, 2021. "Involving Lead Users in Innovation: A Structured Summary of Research on the Lead User Method," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Alexander Brem (ed.), Emerging Issues and Trends in INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT, chapter 2, pages 21-48, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Lars Bo Jeppesen & Lars Frederiksen, 2006. "Why Do Users Contribute to Firm-Hosted User Communities? The Case of Computer-Controlled Music Instruments," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 45-63, February.
    5. van der Boor, Paul & Oliveira, Pedro & Veloso, Francisco, 2014. "Users as innovators in developing countries: The global sources of innovation and diffusion in mobile banking services," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1594-1607.
    6. Globocnik, Dietfried & Faullant, Rita, 2021. "Do lead users cooperate with manufacturers in innovation? Investigating the missing link between lead userness and cooperation initiation with manufacturers," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    7. Franke, Nikolaus & von Hippel, Eric & Schreier, Martin, 2005. "Finding commercially attractive user innovations: A test of lead user theory," Working papers 4536-05, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    8. Chao, Chih-Wei & Reid, Mike & Mavondo, Felix T., 2012. "Consumer innovativeness influence on really new product adoption," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 211-217.
    9. Schweisfurth, Tim G. & Dharmawan, Magha P., 2019. "Does lead userness foster idea implementation and diffusion? A study of internal shopfloor users," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 289-297.
    10. Wu, Chia-huei & de Jong, Jeroen P.J. & Raasch, Christina & Poldervaart, Sabrine, 2020. "Work process-related lead userness as an antecedent of innovative behavior and user innovation in organizations," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 228657, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    11. Nikolaus Franke & Peter Keinz & Katharina Klausberger, 2013. "“Does This Sound Like a Fair Deal?”: Antecedents and Consequences of Fairness Expectations in the Individual’s Decision to Participate in Firm Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1495-1516, October.
    12. Wu, Chia-huei & de Jong, Jeroen P.J. & Raasch, Christina & Poldervaart, Sabrine, 2020. "Work process-related lead userness as an antecedent of innovative behavior and user innovation in organizations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(6).
    13. Hoffmann, Arvid O.I. & Broekhuizen, Thijs L.J., 2010. "Understanding investors' decisions to purchase innovative products: Drivers of adoption timing and range," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 342-355.
    14. Sánchez-González, Gloria & González-Álvarez, Nuria & Nieto, Mariano, 2009. "Sticky information and heterogeneous needs as determining factors of R&D cooperation with customers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1590-1603, December.
    15. Mahr, Dominik & Lievens, Annouk, 2012. "Virtual lead user communities: Drivers of knowledge creation for innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 167-177.
    16. Daniela Baglieri & Gianni Lorenzoni, 2014. "Closing the distance between academia and market: experimentation and user entrepreneurial processes," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 52-74, February.
    17. Baldwin, Carliss & Hienerth, Christoph & von Hippel, Eric, 2006. "How user innovations become commercial products: A theoretical investigation and case study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 1291-1313, November.
    18. Vandecasteele, Bert & Geuens, Maggie, 2010. "Motivated Consumer Innovativeness: Concept, measurement, and validation," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 308-318.
    19. Hoffmann, Stefan & Soyez, Katja, 2010. "A cognitive model to predict domain-specific consumer innovativeness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(7), pages 778-785, July.
    20. Francesco Paolo Appio & Antonella Martini & Silvia Massa & Stefania Testa, 2016. "Unveiling the intellectual origins of Social Media-based innovation: insights from a bibliometric approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(1), pages 355-388, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:18:y:2007:i:1:p:15-30. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.