Adoption of new food products: An investigation into the existence and the characteristics of food innovators

In this work the author reports on his research into the way food in- novations are adopted. He deals particularly with whether food in- novators can be distinguished, that is to say consumers who, more than other people, adopt new products not by chance but more or less systematically. The book discusses three general themes within this problem: what impels innovators, in what respects and in what characteristics are they different from others, and to what extent can their behaviour be used to fore cast the ultimate succes of an innovation. On the the basis of information from the literature and his own research findings, the author postulates that innovators’ behaviour has a number of underlying dimensions. This raises aspects of interest and involvement, innovative versus problem-solving behaviour, monomor- phic versus polymorphic innovativeness, and also some implications these have regarding operationalisation of the innovators’ concept. Al- though emphasis is put on the direct research implications, the discus- sion of these aspects nevertheless provides a number of interesting, but more theoretical indications. The traditional image of the innovator found elsewhere in the literature is substantiated and supplemented by the characteristics of innovators disclosed by this research. Besides socio-economic criteria the research comprises a number of behavioural characteristics of in- novators.