A categorization model for innovation theory: Aesthetic and technical factors.
Item
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Title
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A categorization model for innovation theory: Aesthetic and technical factors.
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Identifier
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AAI9315476
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identifier
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9315476
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Creator
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Kay, Mark Jeffrey.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Leon G. Schiffman
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Date
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1993
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Business Administration, Marketing
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Abstract
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This dissertation theoretically develops and empirically tests a categorization scheme to further the understanding of motivational processes behind the development, adoption, and diffusion of new products. It is hypothesized that two distinct types of motivational factors, aesthetic and technical factors, drive important processes in the development of new products, affect consumer acceptance and adoption decisions, and affect the development of different types of innovativeness. Involvement is proposed to be a moderating factor which affects the development of category-specific innovativeness.;The motivational scales developed in this study consist of self-report measures which were administered to three different sample groups. These groups consisted of graduate students and specialized groups of people with aesthetic and technical educational backgrounds. Background scales were examined to establish discriminant and convergent validity.;A five item aesthetic and a seven item technical background scale were developed, purified, and confirmed as unidimensional scales with LISREL. A twelve item scale of product class motivational factors was developed to be applied across product categories in a consistent format. Clear support for aesthetic, technical, and involvement component factors to explain product category innovativeness was indicated. Proposed measures of aesthetic, technical, and involvement component factors exhibit a clearly defined pattern which was consistent across the six product categories studied.;The measures were found to provide an important means for examining product category structure. Technical and aesthetic component factors were found to be independent and separable. The findings indicate that respondents were "rational" to the extent that primary item measures of technical components were uniformly and consistently rated high in importance in every product category studied. Though technical components were recognized by respondents as important, aesthetic product components were better in explaining innovativeness. The examination of the relationship of technical and aesthetic motivational factors to innovativeness also allows renewed consideration of the diffusion decision process model (Rogers, 1982). The importance of aesthetic components to innovativeness breaks new ground in the diffusion research tradition. This research provides support for a process approach to diffusion theory useful to examining motivations which underlie the development of new products at the product class level.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
