Sometimes concerts are sold out in hours while some artists need months to sell 1000 album copies. Of course well known artists usually sell faster and more than newcomers. On the other hand stars have been born over night. Lets take a closer look on this process: the adoption of music products.
In general customers choose between products on the basis of the product's value.
Value is defined as follows: value = benefits / costs
Benefits can be functional or emotional. Costs can be decomposed in monetary costs, time costs (time to purchase a CD, travel-time to a concert) and psychic costs or barriers.
If you sell, for example, through a specific web shop where users need to register you make up a barrier.
There are many product characteristics which influence the value of a product. The value of a music album, for example, depends on:
- the popularity of the artists and producers (celebrity factor)
- the country or region (reggae from jamaica is perceived different than reggae from japan)
- innovativeness, compatibility and complexity (sophistication)
- organization brand (record label)
- follow-up factor (second or third albums are different from newcomer albums)
Of course the price plays an important role, too.
All these characteristics make up the initial value of the product and shape the awareness the product gets. If you announce a single concert of a rare star it is sold out in minutes. It is easy to move a lot of people to product adoption with such a great product. But marketing can be much harder. What else brings people to the adoption stage? Knowledge is the missing stage in-between. Developing knowledge is the key to success.
Product knowledge is shaped by information and involvement:
- review and publicity (press)
- word-of-mouth (classical and internet based social networks)
- samples (free downloads or tour support)
- advertisement (ads)
- price discounts
All these factors play a role when people assess the risk of a product (not to like the CD) and form an attitude towards it.
Adoption time of a product depends on value and risk in a different manner.
The greater the value and the lower the risk the faster a product is adopted.
Therefore marketing and promotion should enhance the perceived value and reduce risk. Both is done by appropriate communication and the right marketing mix.
If you plan the next promotion campaign or wonder why it takes so long to get into market, the factors presented might help you to think about it.
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