COGNITIVE-STYLE AND USE-INNOVATIVENESS FOR APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE IN-HOME COMPUTING - IMPLICATIONS FOR NEW PRODUCT STRATEGY

Recent research on the personality characteristics of consumer innovators for food items has found that this primary market consists of two substantial but distinct segments. While members of one segment have personality characteristics widely associated with innovativeness (venturesomeness, risk-taking, flexibility, etc.), the others have opposite traits. Moreover, highly involved members of the latter segment were, unexpectedly, responsible for the highest levels of innovative purchasing. If generally substantiated, these findings have radical implications for product development strategy. This article reports an extension of prior research to the context of consumers' use-innovativeness for home computing software applications. Results for a systematic sample of 150 male home computer owners largely confirm the earlier findings: both segments were again substantially represented among respondents, indicating that both personality types should be taken into consideration in product development and promotional strategies. The article considers the implications of the findings for new product marketing and consumer research.