If you have had the opportunity to launch a new product or service, you know that creating a brand presence in a consumer’s mind takes time. How long it takes is different for every brand. Brand building takes time because you often have to change the prospect’s mind about an old brand and get them to change an existing behavior.
There is a five-step path individuals appear to go through between awareness and adoption, although some people are slower to transition between steps. While this process, the Diffusion Process, was first outlined in 1957 regarding adoption of technology on farms, the steps have been found to have broader application. The five steps are:
1) Awareness. The individual is simply aware the innovation/product/service exists.
2) Interest. The individual wants more information. He/she starts to collect the information related to the product. The consumer becomes interested in product quality, features, utility and price.
3) Evaluation. The individual mentally examines the innovation using the information gathered. After the collection of the information about the product, the information gathered is evaluated by the consumers. Consumers check whether the product quality, features, utility and price of the product are satisfactory or not.
4) Trial. In the fourth step of product adoption, the consumer trials or tests the product/service.
5) Adoption. If the individual is satisfied with the product/service, he/she will adopt the product and use the product regularly even in the future.
Of course, not all consumers transition from awareness to adoption at the same pace. Some consumers –innovators–are quick to try new products/services; while others –laggards–are just the opposite and tend to avoid change. According to the New Product Diffusion curve, there are five different adoption groups which illustrate how quickly consumers adopt a new product of service. They are Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards.
The actual rate of adoption will vary depending on a variety of factors such as the perceived benefits over alternative products, communicability of the product benefits, promotional effort, and ease of use among others.
Given consumers are increasingly becoming desensitized to advertising; PR is well positioned to help drive awareness, educate consumers about product benefits and ease of use, and influence product adoption.