The Chasm in the Technology Adoption Life Cycle

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Revised Technology Adoption Life Cycle

Innovator

Early Adopter

Early Majority

Late Majority

Laggard

Product Lifecycle

Adoption Rate

Innovator

Technologist
Visionary
Seeks out innovations
Willing to experiment with possibilities of new technology

Early Adopter

Visionary
Willing to experiment with possibilities of new technology
Interested in new product concepts
Seeking change/a fundamental breakthrough

Early Majority

Pragmatists
Willing to adopt new technology
Willing to become technologically competent
Looking to increase productivity of existing processes
Need a value proposition
Seek references from other pragmatists
Do not want to debug or beta test the product

Late Majority

Conservatives
Unwilling to become technologically competent
Unwilling to change behavior
Want new technology to make current practices more productive
Wait for an established standard
Want lots of support

Laggard

Skeptics
No interest in new technology

Innovator-Early Adopter Gap

Hot technology product cannot translate into a new major benefit (e.g., virtual reality)

Early Adopter-Early Majority Chasm

Early majority is unwilling to change current practices, and/or wants technology to enhance current status quo rather than innovative technology
Vendor is without a support base in a market that demands support
Catch-22: Need for good references when references are scarce or non-existent