Whenever a company plans to launch any new product or service in market the most important thing for them is to study is how the customers or common people going to take the service/product. There are many takes on customer’s behaviour on a new product but the study cannot be completed if you have not read about it in Crossing the Chasm. The concept has been explained quite brilliantly.
Though the idea was given way back in 1990 by Geoffrey Moore, I think it still holds true in today’s time. How can a new product conquer the biggest market shares? How can an ephemeral fad turn into a long-term trend? How can consumers with very different expectations be nevertheless convinced? According to Moore, the market comprises five consumer categories: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards.
Innovators which comprise of only 2%, they are the people who are going to try everything which are new. They are just attracted to the new services and technology. Though essential to winning the references that will ultimately lead to the early adopter market, little profit will be generated in this segment itself.
Early adopters (15%) – They are people which can give companies there first big break. Consumers in the early majority don’t like fads. They wait until a product is really practical before adopting it. So if the product is good enough these group of people will give you your break.
Early Majority, 34%: They are like value added reseller. They like to buy from market leaders, because they know supporting products and peripherals will be developed around the market leader. Selling to them is a continuous planned process involving continuous reinvestment.
Late Majority -The late majority waits for the product to be tested and refined in numerous versions. They also want technical support if need be. These consumers represent 33 percent of the market, which is the largest group.
The laggards are a minority that are not interested in trying anything new.
Now what is the Chasm?
The chasm represents the area between two distinct marketplaces. It falls between an early market dominated by early adopters and insiders who are quick to speculate about the benefits of the new development and also the mainstream market where the financial returns can be delivered. The point to be noted is that product remains the same but convincing argument will vary according to the targeted niche and the chasm will be crossed. Once the chasm has been crossed, it is very important for the company to keep it promises and meet consumer’s expectation.
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Abhinav Mishra 