Product Lifecycle & Technology Adoption Lifecycle: What they are & the differences.

Product Lifecycle & Technology Adoption Lifecycle: What they are & the differences.

In this article, you will learn:

  • What Technology Adoption Lifecycle is,
  • What Product Lifecycle is,
  • The differences, and
  • The stages of each Lifecycle.

What can’t talk about product lifecycle without referencing Theodore Levitt – an American economist, He developed the model to be used in economics and marketing.

The product Lifecycle is the process a product goes through from when it is first introduced into the market until it is removed from the market.

https://theproductgirls.com/explained-product-life-cycle-stages/


There are four (4) stages of the product lifecycle, but if we are to add the development phase to it, then we have 5 stages of the product lifecycle, which are:

1. Development:

This happens internally. It’s all the effort to create the product and prepare it for release into the market.

2. Introduction:
At this stage, the product has been built and is now introduced to the market.

3. Growth:
When there is an increase in customers’ adoption, the product moves to the Growth stage.

4. Maturity:
Once aggressive growth is no longer possible, we say that a product has matured. At his stage, Marketing is focused on maintaining market share, defending itself from the competition, building reputation, and finding opportunities to increase revenue.

5. Decline:
During this stage, a product loses desirability, and companies could decide to improve it with new features, discontinue it, or pivot.

Technology adoption lifecycle


As a product moves through its lifecycle, it attracts different consumers. The type of consumer who buys a product in its infancy is very different than one who buys it once it matures. This model is called the technology adoption lifecycle.

Source: https://www.business-to-you.com/crossing-the-chasm-technology-adoption-life-cycle/

Visually, it looks like a Product Lifecycle, but unlike showing the stages of the product, It shows the types of groups that will use your product over time in line with that of your product lifecycle, these are:

1. Innovators: These are risk takers and the very first customers to try a product.
2. Early adopters: These set of people have financial liquidity and higher levels of education.
3. The early majority: They are more risk-averse, and tend to be conservative with their spending or the technology to adopt. They tend to follow the opinions of others.

4. Late majority: They are customers that are skeptics and very risk-averse. They’ll have limited financial liquidity and be less educated.

5. Laggards: They are the last to adopt an innovation. Laggards don’t like to stray from tradition, and they’re among the oldest of the adopters.

In Conclusion, understanding the Product lifecycle and the type of customers that are likely to adopt the product at different stages helps tailor our product strategy and most importantly how we adapt our messaging to cater to this set of audiences.

The technology adoption lifecycle and the product lifecycle go hand-in-hand to help you focus your marketing efforts.

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