Cognitive Style and Consumer Innovativeness: An Empirical Test of Kirton's Adaption‐Innovation Theory in the Context of Food Purchasing

The identification of consumer innovators offers marketing managers the opportunity to tailor new products to the buyers who initiate the diffusion of innovations. Progress has been made in identifying such consumers in economic and social terms, but there are advantages of cost and convenience in isolating the personality profiles of innovators, during pre‐launch product testing. However, innovative consumer’s personality traits proved elusive. Reports an investigation of innovative brand choice in the context of new food purchasing employing the Kirton Adaption‐Innovation Inventory (KAI). This test of cognitive style correlates with several personality traits associated with innovativeness; it also has high validity in the prediction of behaviour. The research investigated the predictive validity of the KAI over a range of product continuity/discontinuity. The results suggest an operational measure of product continuity/discontinuity and supports the use of the KAI as a marketing tool.