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|186 PART 2 Understanding the Marketplace and Customer Value

New product products from the company. Many marketers go beyond merely meeting the expectations of
A good, service, or idea that is perceived customers—they aim to delight customers.
by some potential customers as new.
A dissatisfied consumer responds differently. Bad word of mouth often travels farther
Adoption process and faster than good word of mouth. It can quickly damage consumer attitudes about a
The mental process through which an company and its products. But companies cannot simply wait for dissatisfied customers to
individual passes from first hearing about volunteer their complaints. Most unhappy customers never tell the company about their
an innovation to final adoption. problems. Therefore, a company should measure customer satisfaction regularly. It should
set up systems that encourage customers to complain. In this way, the company can learn
how well it is doing and how it can improve.

By studying the overall buyer decision process, marketers may be able to find ways to
help consumers move through it. For example, if consumers are not buying a new product
because they do not perceive a need for it, marketing might launch advertising messages
that trigger the need and show how the product solves customers’ problems. If customers
know about the product but are not buying because they hold unfavorable attitudes toward
it, marketers must find ways to change either the product or consumer perceptions.

Author Here we look at some special The Buyer Decision Process for New Products
Comment considerations in new product
buying decisions. We now look at how buyers approach the purchase of new products. A new product is
a good, service, or idea that is perceived by some potential customers as new. It may have
been around for a while, but our interest is in how consumers learn about products for the
first time and make decisions on whether to adopt them. We define the adoption process
as the mental process through which an individual passes from first learning about an in-
novation to final adoption. Adoption is the decision by an individual to become a regular
user of the product.31

The adoption process: To help get tentative consumers Stages in the Adoption Process
over the buying decision hump, SodaStream offers sales at
retail, rebates, and other buying incentives—here a $20 cash- Consumers go through five stages in the process of adopting a new
back rebate offer. product:

SodaStream Awareness. The consumer becomes aware of the new product but
lacks information about it.

Interest. The consumer seeks information about the new product.

Evaluation. The consumer considers whether trying the new
product makes sense.

Trial. The consumer tries the new product on a small scale to im-
prove his or her estimate of its value.

Adoption. The consumer decides to make full and regular use of
the new product.

This model suggests that marketers should think about how
to help consumers move through these stages. For example, if
SodaStream finds that many consumers are evaluating its home
soda makers favorably but are still tentative about buying one, it
might offer sales at retail, rebates, or other price incentives that help
get consumers over the decision hump.

To help car buyers past purchase-decision hurdles follow-
ing the economic meltdown in 2008, Hyundai offered a unique
Hyundai Assurance Plan. It promised buyers who financed or
leased new Hyundais that they could return them at no cost and
with no harm to their credit rating if they lost their jobs or incomes
within a year. Sales of the Hyundai Sonata surged 85 percent in
the month following the start of the campaign. Chevrolet offered
a similar “Love It or Return It” guarantee last year to help offset
the still-tight economy. The guarantee gave uncertain buyers up to
60 days to return cars that had been driven fewer than 4,000 miles
and had no damage.