Journal of Consumer Research, Inc.

Innovativeness, Novelty Seeking, and Consumer Creativity

Author(s): Elizabeth C. Hirschman
Source: Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Dec., 1980), pp. 283-295
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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Novelty
Innovativeness,
Consumer

Seeking,

and

Creativity

ELIZABETHC. HIRSCHMAN*

A conceptual framework is presented that incorporates three constructs

highly relevant to consumer behavior-innovativeness, novelty seeking, and
consumer creativity.A fourth construct, role accumulation, is also discussed.
A model of the relational linkages among these constructs is developed, together with their definitions and a methodology to develop operational measures. Research implications and applications of this conceptual framework
are discussed.

Aconceptual frameworkis presented of the interrelationshipsamong three constructs relevant to

the behavior of consumers-innovativeness, novelty
seeking, and creativity. These concepts are organized
into a theoretical framework that integrates existing
paradigms,consolidates previously independentconstructs, and generates hypotheses for research.
The first of these behavioralconstructs, innovativeness, has been the subject of lengthy and extensive
investigations in several areas of behavioral science
(Midgley 1976; 1977;Midgley and Dowling 1978;Robertson 1971; Rogers and Shoemaker 1971), and has
received great attention by consumer researchers. By
way of contrast, novelty-seeking behavior has been
investigatedto some extent within the innovation-diffusion context (see Rogers and Shoemaker 1971for a
summaryof this research), yet has received relatively
greaterattentionby psychologists andother behavioral
scientists not directly involved with consumer behavior (Faison 1977).Creativityhas been primarilyan object of study by trait psychologists, who have concentrated their efforts on investigating creativity in its
most extreme manifestationsas characterizedby outstanding artistic or scientific achievement (Barron
1968; MacKinnon 1961; 1962; 1965; Welsh 1975). Investigations of creativity have not focused on its potentialapplicabilityto everyday consumptionactivities.

First, a brief overview is given of each construct

drawn from the literature. Next, a series of propositions and supportive discussion are presented, which
integrate these three constructs into an overall conceptual framework. To accomplish this, some new
notions dealing with cognitive processes are introduced, explanationsare suggestedfor known phenomena, and three potentialcomponentsof innovativeness
are advanced.

INNOVATIVENESS
Few concepts in the behavioral sciences have as
much immediate relevance to consumer behavior as
innovativeness. The propensities of consumers to
adopt novel products, whether they are ideas, goods,
or services, can play an importantrole in theories of
brandloyalty, decision making, preference, and communication.If there were no such characteristicas innovativeness, consumer behavior would consist of a
series of routinizedbuying responses to a static set of
products. It is the inherentwillingnessof a consuming
populationto innovate that gives the marketplaceits
dynamic nature. On an individual basis, every consumer is, to some extent, an innovator;all of us over
the course of our lives adopt some objects or ideas that
are new in our perception.
Innovativeness has undergone two major conceptualizations. The first is capturedin the statement by
Rogers and Shoemaker (1971, p. 27) that innovativeness is "the degree to which an individualis relatively
earlier in adoptingan innovation than other members
of his social system." However, as Midgleyand Dowling (1978, p. 230) observe, "This is essentially an operationaldefinitionsince it is couched directlyin terms
of measurementof innovativeness. viz., the time taken

* ElizabethC. Hirschmanis Associate Director,Instituteof Retail

Management,and Assistant Professor, Departmentof Marketing,
New YorkUniversity,NY 10003.The authorwishes to acknowledge
the manyconstructivecommentsprovidedby the reviewerson earlier drafts of this manuscript.Gratitudeis expressed to Melanie
Wallendorffor the introductionof the concept of role accumulation,
and to GeraldZaltmanfor his mentorship.
283

?DJOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH 0 Vol. 7 0 December 1980

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THEJOURNALOF CONSUMERRESEARCH

284

for an individualto adopt." It is also hindered,as those

authors point out, by potential measurementerror in
determiningwhen an innovation was introducedinto
the social system.
A conceptualstrengthof the Rogers and Shoemaker
(1971) definition, however, is its dependence on the
notion that an innovationis "an idea, practice, or object perceived as new by the individual," (p. 19). Althoughthere may be largevariationsin the perceptions
of product "newness" among consumers, which confound measuringtheir roles as innovators, it will be
argued that this diversity of perceived novelty is
closely tied to the cognitive origins of innovativeness.
The second major conceptualizationof innovativeness was constructed in a recent article by Midgley
and Dowling (1978) who, after an extensive literature
review, expressed the notion that innovativeness was
"the degree to which an individualis receptive to new
ideas and makes innovation decisions independently
of the communicatedexperience of others" (p. 236).
These writers viewed innovativeness as a personality
construct possessed to a greater or lesser degree by
all individuals. It is believed to be a continuous variable normally distributedwithin a populationof consumers and generalizable across products. Midgley
and Dowling put forwardno explanationsof the causes
generating innovativeness, nor did they discuss why
some individualsexhibited more innovativeness than
others.

Causes of Innovativeness
Althoughinnovativenesshasgenerateda vast amount
of empirical research, its origins and causes remain
obscure. Despite the search for demographicand sociopsychological correlates for this construct, few attempts have been made to chart the development of
innovativeness within an individualover time.
One explanationfor the lack of causal investigation
is that innovativeness may have been assumed constant for each individual;that each consumeris "born
with" a certain allotment of innovativeness and this
personality trait remains invariant over his/her life
course. However, given the fact that innovativeness
has been found highly correlated with such variables
as educational attainment, occupational status, and
urbanization(Rogers and Shoemaker 1971), it would
seem more plausible that it is not a genetic constant,
but rather socially influenced.

NOVELTY SEEKING
The basic notion underlyingthe constructof novelty
seeking appearsto be that throughsome internaldrive
or motivatingforce the individualis activated to seek
out novel information(Acker and McReynolds 1967;
Cattell 1975; Farley and Farley 1967). There appear

to be at least two aspects to novelty seeking that are

likely to be correlated.
The first aspect is seeking new and potentially discrepant information.This is the aspect most emphasized in studies by psychologists, such as Fiske and
Maddi(1961),McClelland(1955),and by Rogers (1962)
in his notion of venturesomeness. The second aspect
is the extent to which individuals vary their choices
amongknown stimuli,for example, by alternatingtheir
purchase of previously sampled brands. This aspect
of novelty seeking is perhaps better described as variety seeking or stimulus variation. The stimuli are
already known, and thus rotatingtheir use may serve
to reduce boredomor fatigue, but does not lead to the
acquisition of new information. In the discussion to
follow, the first aspect will be given greateremphasis.
It is useful to divide novelty seeking into two components-inherent novelty seeking and actualized
novelty seeking. Inherent novelty seeking is viewed
as the desire of the individualto seek out novel stimuli;
actualized novelty seeking represents the actual behavior by the individualto acquire novel stimuli.

Potential Sources of Novelty Seeking

Flavell (1977) notes that at a very early age human
infants already are engaged in novelty seeking. When
presented with two visual stimuli of equal intensity,
one familiarand one novel, the infant will select the
novel stimulus. Thus, novelty seeking would seem to
representan innate search for information.However,
even if novelty seeking is innate, it is logical to assume
that it serves some constructive purpose to the
individual.
One straightforwardexplanation is that novelty
seeking serves as a means of self-preservation.The
individual may find it useful to create a "bank" of
potentially useful knowledge. Because the future is
unknowable and unexpected, consumption problems
are almost inevitable;the consumermay wisely decide
to seek informationthat is not "useful" now, but may
assume great importancein the future. It standsto reason that the consumerwho has soughtand stored more
data is likely to be better equippedfor novel problem
circumstances. The data that are stored may include
(1) vicarious "adoption" of unfamiliarproduct concepts, (2) the vicarious "experiencing" of unfamiliar
consumption situations, (3) the actual adoption of
novel products, (4) and personal exposure to novel
consumptionsituations.
A second, complementary,explanationfor novelty
seeking is that it functions to improveproblem-solving
skills. That is, the consumer may seek information
pertaining to presently adopted products and consumptionsituationsin an effort to improvehis/herperformance.This rationalefor novelty seekingcould also
lead the consumer to both seek informationabout and
to the actual adoption of new products.

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285

NOVELTYSEEKING,AND CREATIVITY
INNOVATIVENESS,

As an example, magazinereadershipis likely to be

due, at least in part, to novelty-seekingbehavior. One
featurethatmakes magazinesvaluableto the consumer
is that every issue contains novel information. In a
genuine sense, a magazine subscriptionrepresents a
commitmentby the consumer to acquire novel data.
An information-richmedium, stich as a magazine, allows the individualto absorb the accumulatedexperiences of others in a readily accessible and low-risk
form. The consumer assumes that each issue will be
differentfrom its predecessor-that s/he will be confronted with unfamiliar and possibly discrepant
knowledge.
It may be reasoned that novelty seeking to fulfill the
purpose of providing potentially useful knowledge is
exemplified by general interest magazines that digest
and abstract information from multiple sources on
multipletopics, such as Time and Newsweek. Magazines that would be sought out for better solutions to
present problems are likely to be those of a special
interest nature, such as Tennis World, Yachting, and

Vogue. Some magazines, of course, cover a sort of

middlegroundand prove useful both in providinggeneral knowledge and specialized knowledge; for example, Fortune contains both generalized and specialized information.

RELATING INNOVATIVENESS AND

NOVELTY SEEKING
In their discussion of innovativeness, Midgley and
Dowling (1978) distinguished between generalized or
inherent innovativeness and actualized innovativeness. The notion of actualized innovativeness is consistent with innovativeness as conceptualizedby Rogers and Shoemaker(1971), in that it deals with product
adoption (measurable behavior) rather than willingness to adopt (predispositionsto act in a certain way).
Reexaminationof these definitionsreveals that they
are closely related to the constructs of inherent and
actualized novelty seeking. The desire to seek out the
new and different (i.e., inherent novelty seeking) is
conceptually indistinguishablefrom the willingness to
adopt new products (i.e., inherent innovativeness).
Especially when one defines products in their broad
sense, it becomes apparent that new products may
constitute new informationin the form of ideas (e.g.,
from magazines), services (e.g., education courses),
and tangiblegoods (e.g., apparel,automobiles).Thus,
a consumer who expresses a willingness to adopt a
new productis necessarily also expressing a desire for
novel information.
However, actualizednovelty seeking and actualized
innovativeness are not the same phenomenon. Actualized novelty seeking refers to the initiationof behaviors intendedto acquire new information;whereas
actualized innovativeness refers to the actual acqui-

sition of new information. Thus, actualized novelty

seeking may be representedby purchasinga ticket to
a movie or buying a newspaper. The individualis undertakingthis action in an attempt to obtain novel information;however, upon viewing the movie or reading the newspaper, s/he may discover that no new
informationwas forthcoming. Thus, although the attempt was made (actualized novelty seeking), the desired objective was not achieved (actualized
innovativeness).

ADOPTIVE AND VICARIOUS

INNOVATIVENESS
To develop this idea further, let us make a subtle
distinction between two components of actualized innovativeness. The component termed adoptive innovativeness refers to the actual adoptionof a new product, and the component termed vicarious innovativeness

refersto the acquisitionof informationregardinga new

product. Through vicarious innovativeness the individualcan, in essence, adoptthe productconcept without adopting the product itself. S/he can enter novel
informationinto memoryand have it availablefor consumptiondecision making, but avoid the expense and
risk inherent in adopting the actual product. Further
s/he can similarly enlarge his/her knowledge of consumptionsituationsthroughthe vicariousexperiencing
of novel consumption situations. For example, s/he
may read about how to fix a flat tire or how to cope
with being "bumped" from an airplane, rather than
acquiringthis knowledge by personal experience.
Thus inherent novelty seeking can be used in place
of inherentinnovativenessand is posited to lead to two
forms of actualized innovativeness: adoptive innovativeness and vicarious innovativeness. Both vicarious
and adoptive innovativeness may result from the successful implementationof actualized novelty seeking,
as illustratedin Figure A.

CREATIVITY
The construct of creativity has been an especially
intriguingone to psychologists since the beginningof
this century; it inspired a particularly voluminous
amountof empiricalinvestigationand theoreticalconjecture duringthe 1950sand 1960s(Barron1968;1969;
MacKinnon 1961;Taylor 1959).
The conceptual perspective of creativity used here
is that of the ability to engage in what Guilford(1965)
terms productive thinking-the

capacity to generate

novel cognitive content. Creativity is required for

problemsolving; as Guilfordstates: "Problemsolving
is creative" (p. 8). To solve a problem, the consumer
must create some novel cognitive content. The extent
of creativitywill dependon both the natureof the problem confronted and the capabilityof the individual.

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286

THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH

FIGUREA
NOVELTY SEEKING AND ACTUALIZEDINNOVATIVENESS

Actualized
innovativeness:

Accumulate

Inherent

potentially
useful knowledge

nvlyseigoetyekngproducts/consumption

Actualized

Vicarious
innovativeness
(acquisition of in-

formation about new

situations)

Improvepresent
problem-solving

Adoptive
innovativeness

skills

(acquisition of new
products)

Creativityhas generally been examined in its most

extreme forms, where the criterion of ideational
uniqueness has sometimes dominated considerations
of problem-solvingutility. This is especially evident
in studies relatingcreativity to schizophreniaand social maladjustment(Arieti 1976, pp. 354-9). Despite
the popular impression that genius is related to madness, quite the opposite finding has emergedfrom the
great bulk of research. Highly creative people are not
mentally unstable, but rather tend to display ample
social adjustment, empathy, sensitivity, rationality,
and open-mindedness(Arieti 1976;Welsh 1975). Further, and more directly pertinentto consumer behavior, highly creative people have been found to be excellent problemsolvers (Welsh 1975).In fact, expertise
at problem solving, both of a specific and generalized
nature, is one of the central operationalmeasures of
creativity (Barron 1969;Wallachand Kogan 1965).
In measuring creativity, researchers typically ask
subjects to generate alternate uses of objects (either
novel or familiar),to discern similaritiesbetween pairs
of concepts, to cite concepts possessing a given attribute, or to solve puzzles and problems either of a
real or fantasy nature(Wallachand Kogan 1965;Welsh
1975).Logically, it would seem that the problem-solving capabilitiespossessed by creative people might be
quite useful in consumption-relatedactivities, as well.
For example, a highly creative person shouldbe better
able to mentally generate several substitute products
if the usual choice is unavailableor to imaginehow to
quickly solve an unexpected, urgent consumption
problemwith products on hand, such as using diapers
as bandages in an accident.

Consumer Creativity
Consumercreativitymay be defined as the problemsolving capabilitypossessed by the individualthat may
be applied toward solving consumption-relatedprob-

lems (Hirschman1980).In line with this reasoning,this

component of creativity could be an importantfactor
in the individual's ability to deal effectively with the
consumptionenvironment.
Creativity, in general, and consumer creativity, as
a component, are believed to result from the process
of hierarchicalcognitive development initiallyput forward by Piaget (1972) and extended by Dasen (1972),
Feldman, Lee, McLean, Pillemer and Murray(1974),
and Flavell (1977), among others. This theory posits
that the individual acquires concepts and the ability
to reason logically and symbolicallythroughexposure
to various sources of environmentalstimulation.Identified sources of environmentalstimulationin Western
societies include formal education, childhood experiences, occupational demands, urbanization,role accumulation,and the like (Hirschman1980;Wallendorf
1979). Each of these environmentalfactors possesses
the abilityto stimulatethe individualto learnconcepts,
to categorize knowledge, and to form theories about
how the world functions.
The effects of cognitive development on creativity
are directly linked to consumer behavior in that consumers must learn to comprehend' two key sets of
concepts: products and consumption situations. This
is especially true of consumers in modern societies.
The more modern the society, the more the individual's role as a consumer grows in complexity; thus,
more creativity will be required for successful performance as a consumer.
The creativityof consumersis posited to resultfrom
two related cognitive sources: (1) the density of the
product-relevantinterconcept network possessed by
the individual and (2) the repertoire of consumption
situations that s/he has mentally retained (Hirschman
1979).
' Comprehensionin this sense connotes the notion of verstehen,
that is, to understandand be capableof interpreting.

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INNOVATIVENESS,
NOVELTYSEEKING,AND CREATIVITY

Interconcept Networks
Throughoutlife, the consumer acquires knowledge
about products and their attributes. This information
is retainedmentallyas categories of productconcepts
with associated attributes. Concurrent with the acquisition of product concepts is the establishmentof
a networkof interconceptlinkages(Scott, Osgood, and
Peterson 1979; Simon 1979) that consists of dimensions relatingone product concept to anotheraccording to the correlativepatternof their attributes.These
dimensionsreflect the similarityor dissimilarityof interconcept characteristics.
It stands to reason that the more diversifiedthe consumptionexperiences an individualhas had, the more
productconcepts s/he will have acquired,andthe more
attributess/he will have associated with each concept,
eitherfrom vicariousor actualexperience. Thus, more
experienced consumers will have a more highly developed interconcept network than the less experienced. Interconcept network density represents the
numberof dimensions the consumer has availablefor
comparingalternativeproduct concepts. It is one important cognitive source of consumer creativity, because the more dimensions one has availablefor comparing alternatives, the closer congruence can be
attained between problem criteria and the attributes
of potential solutions.

Scripts
A second componentof consumercreativity springs
from the same factors as the first, but may be represented differently in the individual's mind; this component is termed a script or episodic schema (Norman
1976;Schrankand Abelson 1977;Simon 1979).These
are describedby Simon (1979, p. 377) as follows: "The
nodes (mental storage areas) of episodic schema represent a system of temporally and causally related
events . . . (for example) the schema associated with

'restaurant'could be a script describing the typical

sequence of events that occurs when one enters a restaurant." In essence, then, these scripts or episodic
schema may represent a repertoire of consumption
situations that the consumer has stored and may manipulatementally.
The importance of scripts to consumer creativity
derives from the fact that the individualmay use them
to mentally recall how s/he solved prior consumption
problems (e.g., solution criteria, decision strategies),
and may apply this knowledge to solve similar problems. Further, the individualmay mentally rearrange
parts of various scripts into new configurationsto represent a novel consumption situation s/he is facing or
expects to encounter. Therefore, the notion of scripts
may provide a deeper and expandedtheoreticalframework for the construct of situation (Belk 1975;Miller
and Ginter 1979).

287

Scripts, like concepts, are acquired through exposure to environmental stimulation. As with product
concepts, the more diversified the consumption experiences of the consumer, the largerand more varied
will become the mental repertoire of consumption
situations.
One importantdistinctionbetween interconceptnetworks and scriptsis that the formerare static andpropositional in nature,whereas the latterare dynamicand
experiential. In other words, interconcept networks
deal with the facts the consumer has acquired about
a product concept. For example, s/he may "know"
that a Honda Civic has a 40 mpg energy ratingor that
a Holiday Inn room costs $50 per night. Such knowledge does not have to be acquiredthroughactual experience with the product. It can be obtained, for example, from advertising, friends, a product rating
service, and so forth.
In contrast, the repertoireof consumptionsituations
that the individual has stored in memory represents
the scripts resulting from various consumptionexperiences. Whereas, they may contain some factual information (e.g., "I rememberI paid $50 per night at
the Holiday Inn in Atlanta, Georgia"), they are most
useful because they allow the individualto recall the
temporaland spatialseries of actions relatedto a given
act of consumption.
For example, scripts may permit the individualto
reconstruct the physical movements necessary to
solve a consumptionproblem, alert him/herto certain
verbalor visual cues that may be important(e.g., "The
last time I was in a restaurantlike this, and the waiter
said that, then . . ."), and develop a set of strategic
actions. Further,in planninga solution to a consumption problem that will require a complex set of timeandspace-sequencedactions, the combinationof scripts
into novel scenarios may aid in the planningprocess.
For example, in planninga trip to a foreign country,
the consumer may combine scripts from a variety of
prior experiences (e.g., airplanetrips, train rides, foreign language courses, checking in and out of hotels,
eating unusual cuisine) to "imagine" the trip and pick
the most desirableelements from a set of alternatives.

Source of Creativity
By combining interconcept networks and scripts,
the individualis provided with the essential elements
for consumer creativity. That is, to solve a consumption problem one must mentally represent the situational context (either actual or hypothetical) and isolate the criteria that are required to satisfactorily
"solve" the problem. This may be accomplished by
calling up a stored script or by combiningportions of
several scripts to mentally recreate the problem environment. Once the necessary solution criteria have
been identified, the individualmay search along var-

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288

THEJOURNALOF CONSUMERRESEARCH

ious interconcept network linkages for product concepts that possess the set of attributesappropriatefor
solving the problem.
Thus, consumer creativity is believed to be a function of the density of the consumer's interconceptnetwork and his/her mental repertoire of consumption
situations. Together they provide the two essential
componentsof problemsolving: (1) the abilityto mentally represent the problem context, isolate solution
criteria, and identify decision strategies, and (2) the
ability to evoke potential product solutions that possess the requiredattributes.

CONSUMERCREATIVITYAND
ACTUALIZEDINNOVATIVENESS
Consumer creativity is related to actualized innovativeness in a way distinct from that of novelty seeking. To discuss this relationship,a series of deductive
propositionsis put forward, and a thirdcomponentof
actualized innovativeness is specified-use
innovativeness. The basic idea underlyinguse innovativeness
is thatthe consumeracts in an innovativefashionwhen
s/he uses a previouslyadoptedproductto solve a novel
consumptionproblem. In other words, when the consumer uses a product that s/he already possesses to
solve a problemthat has not been previously encountered, s/he is displaying use innovativeness. Before
developing these notions, however, a brief review of
research relating to consumer perceptions of product
innovations is pertinent.

Perceptions of Innovations
The variancethat has been observed in the adoption
and diffusion of new products may be due in part to
consumers' perceptions of these products. Various
classification schemes involving product attributes
have been proposed to account for the observed differences in diffusion rates. However, the Rogers and
Shoemakers (1971) typology, adopted by most consumerresearchers,proposes five characteristicsfound
to have general relevance:2
* Relative advantage: the degree to which an innovation is perceived superiorto the one it will replace
or competeagainst(positivelyrelatedto adoptablility).
* Compatibility: the extent to which the new product
is consistent with existing values and the past experienceof the adopter(positivelyrelatedto adoptability).
* Complexity: the degree to which the innovation is
difficult to understandor to use (negatively related
to adoptability).

For confirmationof the direction of these relationshipswith

adoptabilityin empiricalstudies, see Schiffmanand Kanuk(1978),
pp. 405-7.

the degreeto whichan

innovationmay be triedby consumerson a limited
basis(positivelyrelatedto adoptability).
* Observability (or communicability): the extent to
whichan innovationis visibleto others(positively
relatedto adoptability).

* Trialability(or divisibility):

Exploring the relative efficacy of product-related

and adopter-relatedvariables in predictingactualized
innovativeness, Ostlund (1974) was able to correctly
classify innovators 79 percent of the time using only
the five product perceptual variables. This value increased only to 80 percent when 13 personal characteristic variables were included.3 In a second study
(Ostlund 1974), the perceived product attributescorrectly classified 77 percent of the eventual innovators;
whereas a rate of 79 percent was obtainedby including
personal characteristic variables in the discriminant
function.4 Taylor (1977), following Ostlund, found a
significant, positive relationship between usage of a
productclass and time of adoption. This suggests that
prior knowledge of the product class may lead to
greater ability to detect superiornew products in that
class and, hence, contributeto the probabilitythatthey
will be adopted.
Combiningthis empiricalevidence with the factors
believed to underlie consumer creativity leads to the
following propositions:
P1: The probabilitythat a novel product' will be
adopted is inversely related to the amountof
cognitive effort that must be expended by a
consumer to comprehendit as a concept.6
P2: Comprehensionof the novel productas a concept will, generally, precede actual adoption
of the product.7
P3: The fewer attributes the novel product possesses in common with presently conceptualized products, the more cognitive effort
must be expended to comprehend it as a
concept.
P4: By definition, the more creative the consumer, the more productconcepts have been
comprehended(either vicariously or through
actual adoption). Thus, the greater the likelihood that the creative consumerwill be able
3 The figures are for unaided recall; they were lower for aided
recall.
4 Of the personalcharacteristicvariables,only venturesomeness
and socioeconomic status were found to have any significantstatistical relationship(positive) to innovativeness.
to the consumer;it is perceived
5 A novel productis one unfamiliar
to'be an innovation.
Comprehendmeans to understandhow the productwill be able
to7functionand to interpretits potentialutility.
Exceptions include receipt of the productas a gift, emergency
purchases,externallyrequiredadoption(e.g., "to enterthis contest,
you must purchasethis product"), and the like.

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INNOVATIVENESS,
NOVELTYSEEKING,AND CREATIVITY

to detect common attributes between conceptually comprehended products and the

novel product.
P5: The more creative the consumer,the less cognitive effortmustbe expendedto comprehend
any novel product as a concept, ceteris
paribus.

P6: From Proposition 5 it follows that the more

creative the consumer, the better equipped
s/he is to evaluate the similaritiesand differences among previously adopted products
and unfamiliarproducts.
P7: The enhanced ability the creative consumer
possesses to perceive analogies and differences among new and familiarproducts, coupled with his/her greater ability to mentally
manipulatea consumptionproblem environment, increases the competence with which
alternative products are evaluated and the
probability of the superior product being
selected.
These propositions suggest that the highly creative
consumer is better able to decide whether to adopt a
novel product to solve an existing consumptionproblem. If s/he comparesthe novel productto the product
now used and perceives thatthe innovationis superior,
the new product will be adopted. Thus, high levels of
consumer creativity do not necessarily lead to increasednew productadoption,but ratherto morecompetent new product evaluation. If the new product is
judged potentiallysuperiorto the presentlyused product, it is adopted (adoptive innovativeness). If it is not
judged potentially superior, it is not adopted, ceteris
paribus.

Followingthis same line of reasoning,it is also probable that high levels of consumer creativity will lead
to increased incidence of use innovativeness. Let us
assume that the consumer is faced with a novel consumption problem, rather than a novel product. To
solve this new problem the consumer can undertake
one of two courses of action. First, s/he can adopt a
new product that is perceived to be better for solving
the new problem. This, of course, is adoptive innovativeness. A second viable course of action is to use
a presently adopted product to solve the new consumptionproblem. This is use innovativeness.
The highly creative consumer will be more adept at
both types of actualized innovativeness. S/he should
be better able to construct an appropriatemental representation of the problem situation, and, by sorting
throughhis/her extensive set of familiarproduct concepts (adopted either actually or vicariously), choose
the one that will "best" solve the problem.If the product concept decided on is one which has been previously adopted, then it will be utilized, i.e., use inno-

289

vativeness. If the chosen product concept has been

adoptedonly in a vicarious sense, then actualadoption
will ensue, i.e., adoptive innovativeness.

ROLE ACCUMULATION
At this point, it is evident that a key factor influencing both adoptive innovativeness and use innovativeness is the confrontation by the consumer of a
novel consumptionproblem.Faced with new problems
to solve, it is evident that the consumermustundertake
some type of innovative activity. S/he must either
adopt a new product (adoptive innovativeness)or use
an "old" product in a new way (use innovativeness).
A construct that would seem a valuable conceptual
linkage is role accumulation.As described and measured by Wallendorf (1979), role accumulationrefers
to the number of nonoverlappingroles the individual
is performing.It would appear logical to assume that
when the individualadopts a new role whose responsibilitiesare not redundantwith roles currentlyplayed,
a new set of consumption problems will often be encountered. This will be especially true if the role is
highly specialized, requiringperhaps special training
or instrumentsfor proper performance.
For example, a woman who is a wife and mother
obtains ajob as a managementtrainee. To performher
new role, she will likely undertakea variety of innovative actions. Some productspresentlyowned can be
successfully reappliedto new uses requiredby the new
role. For instance, the dress suit that was used only
for special occasions may now be worn to work. Other
products,for example, a briefcase, may be adoptedfor
the first time, althoughthe woman is likely to already
have vicarious knowledge of them. Once on the job,
she may face a fresh set of completely unfamiliarproduct concepts or consumption situations that can be
adopted vicariously or in actuality. Thus, acquiringa
new role may generate all three types of innovativeness-vicarious, adoptive, and use.

Causes of Role Accumulation

At least two types of agents may initiate role accumulation. First, there are a variety of life-cycle-related factors that may provide externalimpetusfor the
accumulationof new roles. For example, as the individual matures, certain roles are acquired due to socializationor social expectations. The individualis required to attend primaryand secondary schools for a
certain numberof years; after graduations/he often is
expected to attend college and/or to acquire a job for
self-sufficiency. S/he also may experience social pressure to marryand producechildren.Witheach of these
additional,socially-inducedroles, s/he confrontsnovel
consumptionsituations and must adopt new products
or use present ones in novel ways. Thus, one likely
source of role accumulation,and hence actualized in-

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290

THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH

FIGUREB
MODEL OF ROLE ACCUMULATIONAND INNOVATIVENESS

Socialization
influences
Role accumulation

Vicarious
innovativeness

Novel
consumption

problems

Consumer creativity:

Adoptive
innovativeness

Use
innovativeness

Repertoire of
consumption
situations

Novelty seeking
self-fulfillment

Interconcept
network density

novativeness, is external pressure throughthe process

of socialization.
A second probable source of role accumulationis
internal inducement. Many roles acquired by an individual may be due to one's desire for novel experiences, to seek self-fulfillment, or to express his/her
talents. Regardless of the source, however, role accumulationprecipitates actualized innovativeness, as
outlined in Figure B.

CONSTRUCT OPERATIONALIZATION
To implementthe theoretical frameworksuggested
here, a set of operational measures is necessary. To
this end, some suggestionsfor possible empiricalmeasures are advanced for consumer creativity, role accumulation,inherent novelty seeking, actualized novelty seeking, vicarious innovativeness, adoptive
innovativeness, and use innovativeness.

First, provide the subject with a diversified list of

products representative of various domains of consumption, e.g., apparel, transportation,food, entertainment. Products within each domain will be arranged in a paired comparison format. Second, the
individual will be asked to list as many similar and
dissimilarattributesas s/he can for each pair. The rationale for measuringboth similarityand dissimilarity
dimensionsacross productpairs is that these represent
the consumer's ability to generalize across and discriminate among product concepts. Third, compute
the average numberof similarand dissimilarproductpair linkages named by the respondent within each
domain, and sum across all domains. If one desires to
tap interconceptnetwork density for only one domain
of consumption,e.g., food products, the same method
may be employed, but the product list would include
only food items.
Situational Repertoire.

Consumer Creativity
Because consumer creativityis posited to consist of
two components-interconcept network density and
repertoireof consumptionsituations-it is essential to
measureeach componentas a separateentity, and then
to combine them into an overall measureof creativity.
Interconcept Network Density.

Interconcept net-

work density refers to the numberof linkages existing

among concepts based on the perceived intercorrelations of their respective attributesets. The more concepts the individualhas acquired and the more attributes s/he has associated with each concept, the more
dense the interconcept network is likely to become.
To obtain an empirical measure of interconcept network density, the following operational procedure is
suggested.

Measuring situational rep-

ertoire is more problematic,as less empiricalresearch

and theoreticaleffort have been expended in this area.
Until firmerfoundationhas been laid, a more narrowly
focused strategyseems desirable.One approachwould
consist of using focus groupsof consumerswith varied
levels of experience in a given consumption domain
to generate typologies of problem situations. It is anticipatedthat one of two generalforms of typology will
emerge from this process, which will dictate the operationalizationof situationalrepertoire.
One form that the typology may take is that of a
simple additive structure.This form implies that as the
consumer gains incremental experiences in a given
domain of consumption, s/he simply adds additional
scripts to situationalrepertoire. No reorganizationof
existing scriptsoccurs as a result of learningaboutnew
situations. Thus, if a consumer had experienced situ-

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INNOVATIVENESS,
NOVELTYSEEKING,AND CREATIVITY

ations A, B, and C, and then learned about situations

D and E, his/her situational repertoire would simply
be incrementedby these latter two scripts. Hence,
A,B, C + D,E

= A,B, C,D,E.

If this form of typology for situational repertoire

emerges from the focus groups,8 then the construct
may be defined straightforwardlyas the sum of all situations identified by a subject in a given domain of
consumption, summed across all consumption domains. Similarly, a measure of situational repertoire
within a given domain is the numberof different situations i4entified by the consumer within that domain.
A second form of situationalrepertoiretypology that
may emerge from the focus groups is one which is
integrative.This formof typology would resultfromthe
cognitive reorganization of situational scripts as increased experience was obtained. That is, experiencing a novel consumptionsituationmightresult not only
in its being added to situationalrepertoire,but also to
the reformation of scripts already existing in repertoire. Under this set of conditions, if situationsA, B,
and C were already in repertoireand novel situations
D and E were encountered, their addition to the repertoire may result in a typology consisting of W,X, Y,
and Z. That is, the absolute numberof scripts may be
reduced (or enlarged) and their identifyingcharacteristics altered. Hence,
A,B,C

+ D,E=

W,X, Y,Z.

A useful approachto measurementunder this set of

conditions would be to first construct profiles of the
situationalrepertoire used by consumers having low,
moderate, and high levels of experience in various
domainsof consumption.A given consumercould then
be classified by the proximity of his/her repertoireto
a "high", "moderate", or "low" level profilefor each
domain. Although some cognitive reorganization is
known to occur in cognitive structure as a result of
increased experience, it is not yet documented that
similarreorganizationeffects occur for scripts (Scott,
Osgood, and Peterson 1979). Thus, the simpler additive model may prove valid.

Role Accumulation
The concept of role accumulationhas been recently
introducedto consumerbehaviortheorylargelythrough
the efforts of Wallendorf(Hirschmanand Wallendorf
1979;Wallendorf1979;Zaltmanand Wallendorf1979).
The concept refers to the number of nonoverlapping
roles being performed by an individual that require
substantively different activities to properly perform
them.
8
Indicationthat this is the appropriateform would be the focus
groupfindingthathighlyexperiencedconsumersnamedall situations
given by less experiencedconsumers plus several additionalones.

291

To operationalize the concept, two measures are

required-the numberof differentroles performedby
the individualand the relativedegree of overlapamong
these roles. The first aspect may be operationalized
by asking the individualto what formal and informal
groups s/he belongs and in what social activities s/he
participates.These can be comparedfor duplicate reporting, and adjusted accordingly (Hirschman and
Wallendorf 1979). The degree of overlap among the
various roles the individualperformscan be measured
by asking him/herto report the requirementsfor each
role, and then comparingthese across the role set. The
underlyingassumption is that the more similaror homogeneous the role set as measuredby overlap of role
requirements, the less incremental consumption
knowledge the individual will need to perform each
one. Conversely, the more heterogeneousthe role set,
the more consumption knowledge will be required.

Inherent Novelty Seeking

Inherentnovelty seeking may be measuredby scales
constructed of items asking the individualhow willing
s/he is to seek informationthat is new and different.
A combination of generalized/abstractquestions and
specific/concrete questions pertinent to several consumption domains may be most appropriatefor adequately assessing inherent novelty seeking. For example, generalized items may include such questions
as, "How willing are you to seek out novel information?" or "Do you search for the new and different?"
More specific items could include such questions as,
"How willing are you to try new fashions" or "Do
you look for new foods to eat?", which cover a broad
spectrum of consumption domains.
This approach to measuringinherent novelty seeking would generate both a composite set of domainspecific scores, which should correlate highly with the
individual's score on general items. Further, the use
of a battery of domain-specific questions could help
in locating consumption areas in which the consumer
is especially high/low in novelty seeking. Consumers
could be comparednot only as to theiroverall noveltyseeking scores, but also as to the similaritybetween
their domain-specificprofiles for novelty seeking.

Actualized Novelty Seeking

Actualized novelty seeking may be measured by
asking the individual what sources s/he consults to
obtainnovel information.Thus, measuressuchas newspaper and magazine subscriptions, book purchases,
movie attendance, and inquiries to other individuals
may be used to form indices that would tap actualized
novelty seeking. Note, that it is the acquisitionor purchase of the medium (or questioninganother person)
that is viewed as constitutingactualized novelty seeking, not the actual consumptionof novel information.

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292

THEJOURNALOF CONSUMERRESEARCH

An approachsomewhatanalogousto that described

for inherentnovelty seeking may be used to develop
an operationaltaxonomy for actualized novelty seeking. This would require the a priori classification of
various informationmedia into general and consumption domain-specificgroups. The individualconsumer
could then be assigned a set of scores for actualized
novelty seeking based on how many media vehicles
s/he used, and into which categories they fell. Some
informationsources, e.g., Time magazine, would fall
into the generalinformationcategory, whereas others,
e.g., Tennismagazine,would be classified in a specific
consumptiondomain. Composite scores could be developed by summingacross specific domainsand combining with the general category. Further, individual
profilesof domain-specificinformationexposure could
also be calculated.

Vicarious Innovativeness
This concept may be measured by asking the individual what new productsand consumptionsituations
s/he has learned about within a given time frame, but
not actually adopted or experienced. An important
aspect of investigatingvicariousinnovativenessin this
way is that the individualmay also be asked to report
the source(s) from which s/he learned of the novel
productor consumptionsituation.This will aid in tracing the diffusion of novel information.
Second, the individualmaybe questionedconcerning
the level and accuracy of knowledge s/he has acquired
about the novel stimulus. This may have implications
for marketersand other social change agents who are
concernedwith developingaccurateperceptionsof the
innovation prior to adoption.
The operational measure of vicarious innovativeness, thus, should have at least three components:(1)
the absolute numberof innovations(i.e., new products
and novel consumptionsituations)learnedabout within
a given time frame, (2) the level of knowledge about
each innovation, and (3) the relative accuracy of the
knowledge about each innovation. As a key linkage
between vicarious innovativeness and actualized innovativeness is the cognitive ability of the consumer
to compare novel with presently possessed alternatives, it is clear that evaluativecompetencewill depend
not only on the volume of informationpossessed, but
also upon its quality, i.e., accuracy.
A consumer who has vicariously acquired a good
deal of inaccurate informationon an innovation may
be less able to properlyevaluate its utility than a consumer who has acquired less, but more accurate, information regardingits attributes. Hence, if research
conducted using the vicarious innovativeness construct is to have value for studies of consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction,for example, not only the volume but quality of vicariously acquired information
concerninginnovations must be measured.

Adoptive Innovativeness
This concept may be perhaps most appropriately
measuredby asking the individualwhat products s/he
has purchased(or otherwise adopted)within a certain
time frame, and to report the degree of novelty s/he
perceives the product to have compared with other
products presently adopted. All products acquiredby
an individualwithin the time frame are to be included
andarrayedalonga continuumof novelty, as perceived
by the individual. This method of operationalizing
adoptive innovativeness appropriatelyrefocuses the
attention of consumer researchers away from their
perceptionsand definitionsof what constitutes a product innovation and toward what the consumer perceives and defines as a product innovation. A further
useful extension of this measurementapproach is to
ask the individualhow much product knowledge s/he
possessed (throughvicarious innovativeness) prior to
adopting the new product, and how accurate that
knowledge proved to be subsequent to adoption.

Use Innovativeness
To measure use innovativeness, the individualcan
be asked a set of questions such as, "Have you encountered any new consumptionproblems lately that
you solved by using a product you alreadyhad?" and
then asking the consumer to describe the new use to
which the product was put. A complementary approach to operationalizingthis construct would be to
ask, "Have you used any product(s)you own in a new
or unusualway?" and following up by asking him/her
to describe the conditions that promptedthis instance
of use innovativeness. Both these questiontypes could
be accompaniedby complementaryinquiriesconcerning the degree of novelty perceived by the consumer
to characterizethe new use.
Thus, use innovativeness also has two components:
(1) the number of instances in which new uses occurred, and (2) the degree of novelty characterizing
each new use.

CONCLUSIONS,IMPLICATIONS,AND
APPLICATIONS
The implications of this conceptual frameworkfor
consumer research can perhaps best be illustrated
throughan example. Let us consider how the framework mightbe appliedto studyingthe adoptionprocess
for a "home" computer. Several companies, notably
Apple, have been marketingsmall computers that, in
pricing and programmingstructure, are amenable to
adoption by individual consumers. From both a behavioraltheory and marketingstrategy perspective, it
may be useful to study the factors influencingadoption
of such a complex and versatile innovation.
First, it would be anticipatedthat individualshaving

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NOVELTYSEEKING,AND CREATIVITY
INNOVATIVENESS,

high levels of inherentnovelty seeking would be influenced by this characteristicto monitor a wide range
of media (e.g., magazines, television programming,
newspapers)through which they may be exposed to
informationregardinghome computers.Thatis, strong
tendencies toward inherent novelty seeking should
lead to high levels of actualized novelty seeking and,
hence, to the potentialfor exposure to informationregardingthe home computerinnovation. Further,if actualizednovelty seeking were especially high in a consumptiondomain such as computer technology, then
the probabilityfor exposure is even greater.
The level and domain-specificpatternof actualized
novelty seeking will determinethe likelihoodof vicarious adoption of the home-computerinnovation concept. However, to adopt the innovationin a vicarious
sense, the consumer must not only be exposed to information,but must cognitively acquire knowledge of
the computer and its attributes. It is at the vicarious
adoption stage that research can first be applied in a
meaningfulfashion to innovation adopters and nonadopters. Although they have not yet "acted," consumerswho have gained knowledge of the home computer innovation do differ in an importantway from
those who do not have this knowledge, for it is from
the "pool" of vicarious adopters that actual adopters
will later be drawn. Hence, research on the characteristics of vicarious adopters could be useful for the
formulationof strategies designed to transformvicarious knowledge into product purchase.
Those persons who, after learningabout the homecomputer innovation (i.e., vicarious adopters), purchase it are exhibiting actualized innovativeness. Actual adopters will likely constitute only a subset of
vicarious adopters. Therefore, in conductingresearch
on innovationadoption,it may be useful to incorporate
at least three "nested" populations into the design:
(1) persons who never gain awareness, (2) persons who
gain awareness (i.e., adopt vicariously), but who do
not adopt, and (3) persons who adopt both vicariously
and actually. The absolute and relative size of all three
groupswill have a great deal of impacton the diffusion
of the innovation.
One issue that this example raises is that of the factors that may influencethe translationof vicariousinto
actualizedinnovativeness. One useful variableto consider here is role accumulation.Persons who have accumulatedroles that necessitate or would benefit from
the acquisition of a home computer can be expected
to have a higherthan average likelihoodof purchasing
one. It is interesting to note that in many consumer
research studies of innovativeness, the need of the individual for a product to perform his/her role(s) has
rarelybeen takeninto account. Thus, althougha potent
reasonan individualmay choose to adopt a home computer is because s/he needs it for role performance,
rarely has this factor ever been explicitly included in

293

the research. The notion of role accumulationwould

seem to be one effective way of accomplishingthis.
A second factor that may influence the translation
of vicarious innovativeness into actualized innovativeness is consumer creativity. This construct can
affect the decision to adopt in two ways. First, the
denser the interconceptnetworkpossessed by the consumer, the better able s/he should be to comprehend
the functioningof the innovation.This will, of course,
be moderated by the domain-specificnetworks characterizingthe individual.In the case of the home-computer innovation, an individualwith a dense network,
especially in technology-relateddomains, may be able
to generate several realistic comparisonsbetween the
home computerand several alternativeproducts. S/he
may reason, for example, that -the home computer
could be used to replace a calculator, a series of filing
cabinets, and a checkbook.
Also, the highlycreative consumermay have a welldeveloped repertoire of consumption problems the
home computer could be used to solve. S/he could
mentally construct alternative performance environments for the computer innovation and, based on its
utility in "solving" these cognitively generated problems, decide whether actual purchase was desirable.
Thus, high levels of consumer creativity do not necessarily increase the probabilitythat a home computer
will be adopted, but do ensure that the innovationwill
be given appropriateconsideration.
To complete our example, let us assume that due to
role requirementsand creative perceptionsof product
performance,the consumer purchases the home computer. One useful avenue of research may be to test
the congruence between anticipated and actual performanceof the innovation.That is, how accuratewas
the consumer's mentalconstructionof the home computer's functioning? The answer could contribute a
great deal to our understandingof consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
A second potentially valuable area of investigation
would be instances of use innovativenessregardingthe
home computer. A versatile and complex innovation
such as this readily lends itself to use innovativeness.
Without experience, it is unlikely that the adopter
could a priorienvision the variety of uses to which the
home computer could be put. Once it is adopted and
its capabilitieshave become more familiarto the consumer, it probablywill be applied to several problem
situations not viewed as relevant at the outset. One
may hypothesize that the more inherentflexibilitypossessed by a product, the greater the incidence of use
innovativeness.
Although this example is hypothetical, it illustrates
the variety of research applicationssuggested by this
framework.It is a structurethat, in its present form,
can unite constructs such as novelty seeking, new
product adoption, and the acquisition of additional

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294

THEJOURNALOF CONSUMERRESEARCH

roles that previouslywere often examinedin isolation.

Extended beyond the linkages developed here, additionalaspects of consumerbehavior, such as reactions
of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, may also be
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