The Search for the Consumer Innovator

The acceptance of newness by the members of a particular society or culture is a subject of major interest to anthropologists, sociologists, and businessmen. How are new ideas, practices, and products diffused from one individual or group to another? Are there some groups or individuals who are more receptive to newness than others? Successful innovation is the key to business success. Yet new-product failure rates are estimated as high as 95 percent.1 New-product introductions appear to be not only the most important undertaking in marketing but also the most difficult. Within the past ten years businessmen have discovered that for a number of years the related disciplines of anthropology and sociology have been conducting significant research relating to the diffusion of innovations. Their findings appear to be applicable to the marketing problems involved in introducing new products.