Why People Adopt Or Wait For New Technology
On the Quora, Alexia Tsotsis asked an interesting question: What are the key differences between “Normals” (normal mainstream users) and tech early adopters?Here’s the answer I posted:
(I’ve been thinking about this question for a while now. Something was bothering me and I think I’ve figure it out.
Instead of thinking about ‘early adopters’ and ‘normals’ as if they are two homogeneous groups, I think it’s better to look at the motivations that triggersomeone to buy into a new technology or solution at various points in the release timeline. Here’s some of our research findings, as we try to understand when people take to new stuff:)
People Who Are First
In our research, we’ve found three main reasons that someone adopts a product or service early on.
獲得社會地位：
Being First to Gain Social Status
Many of the answers describing early adopters are talking about a select group of people who are the first to acquire new technologies and solutions — those with the motivation to be amongst the first. In our research, there are common themes of drivers for this motivation.
These individuals tend to drive their social status by knowing the latest-and-greatest in what’s happening in the tech space. The people we’ve interviewed tell us they enjoy the thrill of having something before others, of knowing details about what’s happening, and of partaking in the ‘insider’ community of the tech world.
職業(yè)的需要，測評：
For these individuals, it’s a passionate avocation, sometimes professional, to collect and promote their newest items. They don’t need the products for what they do, they just want them to be at the leading edge of use. You can think of it like movie reviewers — they go to practically every movie, to serve as an informed authority for others in their influence circles on how good it is and what the salient features are.
These folks aren’t very loyal customers. In our research, they infrequently use something once another item comes out to replace it. (Plus, if they develop enough of a reputation, they are often given the first version, so they don’t even provide the initial revenue.) They are, in effect, an extension of the marketing machine for the product.
Being First as Product Research
There’s another group we found in our research: those folks who want to be first because they need to keep up for professional reasons. They are almost always in the tech community (or in fringe communities, like financial analysts that study the tech world). They buy the new to understand the core of the innovations that are happening.
Their interest isn’t in use, but in reverse engineering, on some level. They want to see what makes it tick and how to exploit any good ideas for other projects they may have.
These aren’t very loyal customers either. They don’t really care about the product or the company that made it, beyond what salient innovations they can take away.
滿足急需的需求：
Being First to Solve An Active Need
Unlike the other two categories above, this group jumps at a new product or service because it promises to solve a need they find very pressing. For these folks, they’re currently feeling pain and the new product or service is a solution.
各種例證：
Recently, we’ve seen this with the Toyota Prius (need: be more environmentally friendly and reduce gas consumption), Apple iPod (need: have more music available), Apple iPhone (need: a better mobile experience), TiVo (need: time-shifted television watching), Dropbox (need: share files across devices and with colleagues), and Cirque du Soleil (need: a grown-up circus).
(What’s interesting is the folks who buy into these products early on don’t typically buy into just any products early. They have a real need and are willing to take the risks of the early product to resolve it.
This group isn’t responsive to brands per se, though a successful outcome willstrengthen brand engagement. They don’t automatically buy other products from the same brand. (For example, most strongly-pleased iPhone customers didn’t purchase Apple TV, even though it’s a sister product.)
In some cases, the active need is because their existing solution is slowly killing them through what we call the “death of a thousand cuts.” They are feeling increasing pain with their existing solution and are looking for any compelling reason to move away.
Of the three groups I’ve mentioned so far, this is the only one who actually uses the product for more than experimentation. Unlike the other groups, the folks in this group’s successes and pain points are similar to what you’ll see with later groups. These are the folks to design for.)
重點(diǎn)搭配和句子摘抄：
normal mainstream users： 正常主流的用戶
tech early adopters：高科技產(chǎn)品早期使用者
figure it out：解決問題
the motivations that trigger xxx： 觸動xxx的動機(jī)
adopts a product or service early on：早起就使用一個(gè)產(chǎn)品或是服務(wù)
Gain Social Status：獲得社會地位
acquire new technologies and solutions ：獲得新技術(shù)和解決方案
drive their social status ：驅(qū)動他們的社會地位
knowing the latest-and-greatest ：了解最新(的產(chǎn)品)
enjoy the thrill of ：享受xxx的刺激
a passionate avocation：情有獨(dú)鐘的愛好
to be at the leading edge of use：達(dá)到的使用效果
movie reviewers ：電影品論人
loyal customers：忠實(shí)客戶
reverse engineering：抄襲別人的產(chǎn)品批量生產(chǎn);
【英文解釋：the activity of examining and copying a product developed by another company in order to make your own product】
develop enough of a reputation：形成了足夠的名聲
in effect：生效
how to exploit any good ideas for other projects ：如何利用一些好的點(diǎn)來做其他的項(xiàng)目
salient innovations ：顯著的革新
more environmentally friendly and reduce gas consumption：
環(huán)境友好型的、減少油耗
have music more available：有更多種的音樂
a better mobile experience：更好的手機(jī)體驗(yàn)
share files across devices and with colleagues：在不同設(shè)備之前和同事分享文件
strengthen brand engagement：加強(qiáng)品牌參與
Citation：
https://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2011/12/21/why-people-adopt-or-wait-for-new-technology/
適用題目：
some people prefer to buy new technological devices immediately when they become available. Others prefer to wait until many people have adopted them. Which way do you prefer?