The nature of lead users and measurement of leading edge statusPamela D. Morrison, John H. Roberts, David F. Midgley3 September 2003

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Geoffrey Bruyeregeoffreybruyere@gmail.com

A review

Issue

• Lead users:

▫ (1) face needs months or years before they become general in a marketplace,

▫ (2) benefit significantly by obtaining a solution to their needs. (von Hippel, 1986)

• Empirical research has shown the value of lead user need and solution to new product development processes.

However…• the nature of the lead user concept has not been studied yet.

The objective of this paper is to make another step in the lead usernessmeasurement, adding a new variable:

▫ (3) the generation of new applications and solutions.

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How?

• By proposing and evaluating a continuous analog to the lead user concept: the leading edge status (LES).

• This publication:

▫ establishes the validity and reliability of LES and examines the characteristics of users having high levels of this variable,

▫ offers a first exploration of how LES is related to traditional measures in diffusion theory such as dispositional innovativeness and time of adoption (TOA).

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Leading Edge Status: LES

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• “the degree to which organizations use and apply technology innovations in new and different ways to solve the problems they face”

AND

• “the degree to which they perceive the benefits of new products earlier than the rest of the marketplace”

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Validity and reliability of LES

• LES is strongly related to other measures of innovation adoption:

▫ the innate or dispositional innovativeness of adopters ,(Midgley and Dowling, 1978)

▫ and the characteristics of adopters as a function of time of adoption (TOA),(Rogers, 1962, 1995)

• And the lead user measure is also complementary to the other two, providing additional information that they do not provide.

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Testing of the LES model

• Study conducted on libraries

▫ 747 libraries in Australia

▫ Response rate of 62% (n = 463 organizations)

Why?• homogeneity of product interest among respondents,

• heterogeneity with respect to size, adoption rate, market sector and adoption timing,

• capability and motivation for good recall.

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Testing of the LES model

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Results of the LES concept test

• The composite reliability measure is 0.76

• The measurement model for the leading edge status construct is highly reliable

• Hence▫ (1) face needs months or years before they become general in a marketplace,

▫ (2) benefit significantly by obtaining a solution to their needs,(von Hippel, 1986)

+▫ (3) the generation of new applications and solutions,(new definition)

=Part of the same construct

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Relationship between LES and traditionaldiffusion study constructs

• (1) to learn how LES fits in with previously developed constructs, clarifying the role lead users might play in the adoption of new technology,

• (2) contrast the characteristics of LES with other measures of innovativeness (innovators, early adopters…)

ODI = Organization Dispositional Innovativeness LES = Leading Edge Status TOA = Time Of Adoption

LES is more closely related to the innate innovativeness (ODI) than to the behavior (TOA and NIA)

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Characteristics of LES and other measures ofinnovativeness

• And also substantial overlap between the three constructs

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Other observations

• Lead users being “advanced” relative to an adopting population can be harnessed for forecasting purposes and to generate new products based on their advanced application status

• They play a big role in the contagion process (assisting others in the adoption process). This is a function of their early adoption of new products for which they are lead users, combined with their importance as communication sources.

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Conclusion

• LES is an efficient and reliable tool,

• Users with high LES deserve a lot of attention because:

▫ They are sources of new product ideas,

▫ They are early adopters (and though can help us predict new trends)

▫ They play an important role in fueling the diffusion process.

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Great marketing research potential

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Thank you

Any questions?

Geoffrey Bruyeregeoffreybruyere@gmail.com

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