Are innovators worth identifying?

The most heavily researched stream within the marketing diffusion tradition is that which looks at individual adoption behaviour. The purpose of this research is to predict and explain the decisions of individual consumers concerning if and when they adopt an innovation. Although a large number of studies have attempted to address the question of what drives individual adoption behaviour, the reasons for conducting this research have not been well established and are rarely critiqued. This paper brings together and analyses the various reasons that have previously been put forward to justify research into innovators. The findings are that although the benefits of identifying early adopters are not as strong and clear-cut as sometimes presented, they are still sufficient to warrant further research into methods that will accurately predict likely early adopters.