Ariana loves new electronic products, but she also wants to make sure she gets a good value for her money. therefore, she typically waits a few months after a product is introduced to see whether all the kinks are worked out. in the meantime, she reads ratings and reviews. she also turns to her friend eric, who is one of the first people to adopt and test out new products. she relies heavily on eric's recommendations. when she is satisfied as to its value, she usually buys the product. ariana most likely fits into which category?

This question lacks answers. Here they are:

A) Early adopter  

B) Early majority  

C) Innovator  

D) Late majority  

E) Laggard

Answer is B) Early majority  

Explanation:

These are the adoption categories. They measure how inclined a customer is to adopting a new product or technology. Each category describes the main aim and goal of the customer when trying the new product.

Naturally, all categories are on the gradual scale:

Innovators -> Early adopter -> Early majority -> Late Majority - > Laggard

with the innovator being the group that is adopting the product immediately after launch, while the laggard is very change-resistant, rarely making choices regarding the adoption of something new.

The thinnest line is probably the difference between early adopters and the early majority. Early adopters are not as fast as innovators when it comes to product adopting and they are often doing it because of coolness or the "wow" factor of the product. Although the time of adoption for the early majority is the same or a little bit longer than early adopters, the key difference is that the early majority puts functionality over coolness when something is new and ready for adoption.

In this example, Ariana want to receive great functionalities for the given money, so she turns to ratings, reviews and recommendations from early adopters and innovators (Eric). Eventually, when it is determined that the product proves its value, the early majority adopts it.