The Comparison between Leapfrogger and Innovator

• Main Authors: Ming-Hong Cho, 卓明弘
• Other Authors: Peirchyi Lii
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1999
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/94768489595717660334

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 管理科學學系 === 87 === Under the situation of shortened product life cycle, sales of newly developed products have become one of the major sources of organizational profit. As a result, innovators and early adopters of a new product are increasingly important for an organization. Based on the diffusion theory, innovators are the first to purchase a new product. However, innovators’ buying behaviors become more and more complicated as the product life cycle gets shorter and shorter. For example, leapfrogging is a newly discovered buying behavior and more easily to be found nowadays in the marketplace. Leapfroggers are potential customers who have already decided against buying a company''s current products but have not yet decided whether they will buy the next product generation, go to the competition or not buy at all. Why leapfroggers are so important is because they can bring very negative consequences to an organization. These buyers have decided against the company''s current products. When the next generation is available, there is no guarantee they will buy that either. They may decide against a purchase altogether, if the new generation is not good enough, or be lost to the competition during the waiting and decision process. To research the difference between Leapfrogger and innovator is essential as the number of leapfrogger is growing in the marketplace. The purpose of this study is to provide comparisons between leapfroggers and innovators so that marketers could gain some knowledge regarding leapfroggers’ life styles and demographic characteristics. Hopefully, the development of new product, in turn, could privide more profit to an organization. Questionnaire survey was employed to study the topic. Statistical analyses, such as Independent-samples T test and Contingency Table Independency test, are done to investigate the issue. Findings are as follows: 1、 There is significant difference on brand consciousness between leapfrogger and non-leapfrogger. 2、 Leapfroggers have more desire to try new product than non- leapfrogger. 3、 Watching TV is the major entertainment activity for leapfroggers.