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:

1. The Opportunity. Bundling low-cost components into comprehensive offerings can lead to relatively high sales volumes, extending the total market potential for existing solutions.
2. 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.
3. 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