The Nature of Consumer Adoption Process
· The customer adoption process is generally accepted conceptualization of the stages a consumer goes through when confronted with a new product or service.
· According to the adoption process, the consumer must first become aware of the product, then develop an interest in it, perform some pre-purchase evaluation, and then try the product, either as a consequence of a purchase or of a marketer-sponsored promotion or incentive.
Diffusion of Innovations
· Diffusion process is a communications model and as such it consists of four elements: the innovation, communication channels, time, and social system within which the innovation is spreading
· The Consumer Adoption Process explains consumer behavior and how consumers adapt to a product, while the diffusion of innovations describes the life of a product over time.
Pervasive Computing
· Pervasive computing implies that a single person has access to myriad computing devices to assist in performing all sorts of daily tasks.
· Pervasive computing aims to enable people to accomplish an increasing number of personal and professional transactions using a new class of intelligent and portable devices. It gives people convenient access to relevant information stored on powerful networks, allowing them to easily take action anywhere, anytime.
· There, new intelligent appliances or “smart devices” are embedded with micro-processors that allow users to plug into intelligent networks and gain direct, simple and secure access to both relevant information and services. These devices are as simple to use as calculators, telephones or kitchen toasters.
Changes Likely to Bring about in the way marketer approach the Internet
· Marketers have to seize the opportunities presented by the changing technological environment and develop new products and services that successfully take advantage of it such as RFID.
Strategic Drivers of Wireless Adoption
· Context: providing necessary information when and where the customer needs or wants it
o Localization: location of the user can be identified and information specific to that location can be provided (GPS, Tracking Device)
o Personalization: the customer can select not only the type of information desired but also the frequency of information provision (consumer may select specific stocks and specific price levels at which he or she wishes to be notified.)
· Time sensitive: because screens are small and storage in limited, information must be provided at the time appropriate to the customer, not convenient for the marketer (As a customer passes a store in a shopping mall, he or she may be willing to receive a coupon for a purchase in that store, which can be saved or retained on the screen until the customer shows it when checking out the purchase.)
· High value: The coupon will have to have a reasonable value in order to make it welcome in the wireless context
· Voice activation: there are many situations in which it is not safe to use the keyboard (voice activation)
· One-click payment mechanisms: a system is which payment is easily and securely authorized and billed to a single account because consumers are not going to be willing to enter credit card information on mobile keyboards and may be uncomfortable with the idea of their credit card data being transmitted wirelessly
· Security: users must be assured that data transmissions are secure, and authentication services must be provided in a way that is suitable for the devices (smart cards that can be inserted or taken out)
· Privacy: providers of content and services will have to be sensitive to download times, lack of storage, and the fact that users are paying for airtime- They must not abuse technological capabilities like geographic locational services.
· Expanded permission marketing: marketers will have to extend the concept of permission marketing beyond simple opt-in scenarios. They must find out what kind of information consumers are willing to receive, how often they are willing to receive transmissions, and where they are willing to receive it