Innovative adoption behavior: the role of traits of personality, general and domain-specific innovativeness.

This study investigates the relationship between personality traits, innovativeness and innovative adoption behavior. The study examined about 180 subjects. Consumer innovativeness has been measured at a general level, as cognitive style toward innovation, and at specific level, as tendency to buy new items within a specific domain of interest. Cellular phones were chosen as a suitable product class for this study. Innovative adoption behavior has been measured using time of adoption and cross sectional methods. Relationship between the construct has been examined within the framework of structural equations modeling. Results confirm that traits of personality - openness and energy - determine general innovativeness. This latter influences domain-specific innovativeness which in turn determines innovative adoption behavior. The effect of general innovativeness on innovative behavior was indirect and totally mediated by domain specific innovativeness.