Consumer innovativeness and new product purchasing literatures are replete with solid yet unrelated theories that have not been considered simultaneously as part of a larger psychological framework. This oversight limits the ability of practitioners to effectively target the valuable consumer innovators market segment. In this study, an approach/avoidance framework of new product purchase intentions is discussed and empirically tested via structural equation modeling. Consumer innovativeness, self-congruence, and satisfaction play the role of approach mechanisms, while perceived risk acts as an avoidance mechanism. The authors combine a set of related yet disconnected theories, while suggesting a means of appealing to consumer innovators through a specific form of self-congruence. A sample of 741 students is employed to examine these issues. Several notable findings are highlighted, including verification of indirect relationships between the independent variables and behavioral intent. Revenue from new products plays a pivotal role in the expansion of many firms. For instance, Kraft Foods derives $800 million in annual sales from new product launches each year (Dahm, 2002). The success of a launch often hinges on the manufacturer's ability to convince consumers of the item's novelty. Therefore, it is insightful for marketers seeking growth through new product launches to gain an understanding of how consumers form behavioral intentions related to innovative new products.While consumer perceptions and responses to new product launches have been studied extensively in consumer behavior since the introduction of the Bass model of diffusion of innovation (Bass, 1969), a major gap remains. The intervening psychological process between the individual trait of innovativeness and the behavior of new product adoption is not well understood. As a function of this, marketers often fail to appropriately segment and target innovators, potentially hindering, and sometimes even eliminating, diffusion attempts. This research begins to address this gap by applying approach/avoidance theory (Carver, Sutton, & Scheier, 2002) to model the interplay between the personality trait of innovativeness, self-concept as embodied in self-image congruence, affect as embodied in satisfaction, risk perceptions, and the outcome of behavioral intentions. Approach/avoidance theory was adopted following a review of relevant literatures, during which alternative theories were considered. It was concluded that approach/avoidance theory provided the best foundation for the proposed model, as it is primarily based on the belief that much of human behavior consists of attempts to create and maintain conformity to desired goals (Carver, Sutton, & Scheier, 2002). As such, it is a plausible conceptual framework for understanding how the aforementioned constructs drive behavioral intent.It is theorized herein that innovators are more sensitive to the incentives of new product purchases than are other consumers. Conversely, innovators are less attun...
