問15
頻出度★★☆
マーケティングにおけるイノベーター理論では，新しい製品やサービスが普及していく過程に沿って，消費者を，イノベーター，アーリーアダプター，アーリーマジョリティ，レイトマジョリティ，ラガードという五つのグループに分ける。このとき，アーリーアダプターからアーリーマジョリティへの普及において生じる，越えることが困難な隔たりを表す用語として，最も適切なものはどれか。
令和8年度 ITパスポート試験 問15
This question's explanation and your answers so far.
解説
問 15
Incorrectア
Cannibalization refers to the phenomenon where a company’s new product eats into the market or sales of the company’s own existing products. It is about competition between product lines or sales channels, not a term that expresses the gap between consumer groups during the diffusion process.
- イ
正解 The correct answer is イ, “Chasm.” When the innovator theory divides consumers into five groups, a large gap caused by differences in values and buying behavior exists between the early adopters who support the early market and the early majority who drive the full diffusion phase; many products fail to cross this gap and their diffusion stalls. The term for this difficult-to-cross gap is the chasm (chasm, meaning a deep gap), which matches the description in the question.
Incorrectウ
The Valley of Death is a term from technology management (MOT), referring to the stage where research and development results are prone to stalling before reaching commercialization or productization due to a shortage of funds or management resources. It is a difficulty on the development side, not a gap between consumers during market diffusion.
Incorrectエ
Red Ocean refers to a bloody market crowded with existing competitors and intense price competition (its antonym is Blue Ocean). It indicates the competitive state of the market environment, not a term for the gap that arises when moving from early adopters to the early majority during the diffusion process.
ここがポイント
- The innovator theory classifies consumers into five groups by how early they adopt: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.
- The chasm refers to the large, difficult-to-cross gap that exists between the early market (up to the early adopters) and the full diffusion market (from the early majority onward).
用語