Balancing innovation with consumer resistance is a complex challenge in product development. In his article Eager Sellers, Stony Buyers (Harvard Business Review, 2006), John T. Gourville explains how companies often overvalue their innovations while consumers overvalue their existing products, a phenomenon he calls the “9x Effect.” Companies tend to inflate the appeal of new features by a factor of three, while consumers place equal weight on the value of what they already own. This mismatch in perceptions creates a significant gap between business expectations and consumer demand, often leading to the failure of new products. To address this gap, one of the most effective strategies for product managers is to minimize behavior change. Successful products often offer improvements that enhance user experience while requiring little to no adjustment in the way consumers currently use products. Toyota’s Prius is a prime example of this. The hybrid vehicle introduced cutting-edge technology, yet the driving experience remained largely the same as traditional gasoline-powered cars. By offering environmental benefits without demanding significant changes in driving habits, Toyota minimized consumer resistance. This strategy helps product managers develop innovations that feel more intuitive and familiar to consumers, reducing psychological barriers to adoption.
Another essential approach is to recognize and accept that adoption may be gradual, especially for products requiring significant behavioral shifts. TiVo, the digital video recorder, is a perfect illustration of this. Despite offering major advantages like pausing live TV and recording shows effortlessly, TiVo struggled because it required consumers to break long-established habits with VCRs. Many companies, like TiVo, burn through resources expecting rapid consumer adoption, only to find resistance is stronger than anticipated. Product managers need to plan for gradual acceptance and manage resources accordingly, understanding that behavior change takes time.
In cases where behavior change is unavoidable, product managers should aim to deliver such compelling benefits that they outweigh the perceived losses of switching. Intel’s Andy Grove suggested that innovations must offer a “10x improvement” over existing alternatives to overcome consumer resistance. For example, medical advances like MRI machines, which offer significantly better diagnostics than X-rays, achieved rapid adoption because the improvement was so substantial that the switch was undeniable. Companies can also reduce resistance by eliminating old products or targeting consumers who aren’t attached to existing alternatives. For example, regulatory changes, such as environmental policies that phase out older technologies, can accelerate the adoption of new innovations. Similarly, targeting consumers with fewer attachments to legacy products can help overcome resistance.
By employing these strategies—minimizing behavior change, anticipating slow adoption, offering significant benefits, and targeting the right audience—product managers can better navigate the challenge of introducing new products. This helps bridge the gap between eager sellers and cautious buyers, increasing the likelihood of innovation success.
