There are specific characteristics of innovations that affect which innovations are adopted. Define those characteristics giving examples of products or services

What will be an ideal response?

There are five different characteristics that are important in the adoption of innovations. They are: 1. Relative advantage. This involves a comparative assessment of the existing products or methods. If a product has a substantial relative advantage, it is likely to gain quick acceptance. The popularity of jump drives is an example for their preference over floppy disk. 2. Compatibility. This concerns with the extent to which a product is consistent with existing values and past experiences of adopters. For example, the first consumer VCR, the Sony Betamax, failed because it could only record for one hour. Most customers wanted to record for longer periods of time and thus selected VHS-format, although the recording quality of Sony-Betamax was superior to VHS. 3. Complexity. The degree to which an innovation or new product is difficult to understand, operate, and use. The more complex a product is, the slower will be its adoption. The new digital cameras are an example of their slow adoption since their operations are very complex. 4. Divisibility. This is the ability of a product to be tried and used on a limited basis without great expense. There are wide discrepancies in income levels around the world as well as the storage conditions. Smaller cans of Coke and Pepsi are popular in many countries, with affordable prices and less storage space requirement. 5. Communicability. It is the degree to which benefits of an innovation or the value of a product may be communicated to a potential market. Many of the software programs go unsold since their benefits are not fully communicated to customers. These characteristics give a clear outline of what is needed for an innovation to be successful.