Three Insights about the Late Majority: Reluctant to Be Led
A large portion of the entire market—perhaps 35%—makes up the Late Majority group of customers (also known as Conservatives), which tend to see technology as a burden to be kept up with, rather than as an empowering engine of change. For this group, the driving force behind adopting a new technology is avoiding being left behind. Therefore, they tend to be sensitive to both cost and complexity, preferring pre-assembled packages as opposed to point solutions:
- The Opportunity. Bundling low-cost components into comprehensive offerings can lead to relatively high sales volumes, extending the total market potential for existing solutions.
- The Challenge. Because the per-sale profit margin may be lower at this stage, sales overhead must be controlled, while still limiting the perceived complexity of the solution.
- The Influence. The Late Majority is the last large chunk of the market. As a result, they are not looked to as influencers except possibly to other Late Majority buyers.
This entry is fourth in a series of five that describe the changing customer and market dynamics as a product matures. The previous three are concerned with the earliest stages of customer adoption, through the beginnings of mainstream acceptance: “Innovators: The Bleeding Edge,” followed by “Early Adopters: The Search for Business Value,” and “The Early Majority: Is It Safe Yet?.” The series concludes with Stage 5, describing the market consisting of last adopters: “Laggards: The Last to the Party.”
By Sean Campbell
By Scott Swigart