''Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers'' or simply ''Crossing the Chasm'' (1991, revised 1999 and 2014), is a
marketing
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
book by
Geoffrey A. Moore that examines the market dynamics faced by innovative new products, with a particular focus on the "chasm" or adoption gap that lies between early and mainstream markets.
The book offers decision-making guidelines for investors, engineers, enterprise executives, marketers and managers throughout the high-tech community. Real-world examples of companies that have struggled in the chasm are also provided.
Synopsis
Crossing the Chasm is an adaptation of an innovation-adoption model called
diffusion of innovations
Diffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. Everett Rogers, a professor of communication studies, popularized the theory in his book ''Diffusion of Innovations''; the boo ...
theory created by
Everett Rogers
Everett M. "Ev" Rogers (March 6, 1931 – October 21, 2004) was an American communication theorist and sociologist, who originated the ''diffusion of innovations'' theory and introduced the term '' early adopter''. He was distinguished professor e ...
, The author argues there is a chasm between the early adopters of the
product
Product may refer to:
Business
* Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem.
* Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution
Mathematics
* Produ ...
(the
technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...
enthusiasts and visionaries) and the early majority (the pragmatists). Moore believes visionaries and pragmatists have very different expectations, and he attempts to explore those differences and suggest techniques to successfully cross the "chasm," including choosing a
target market, understanding the
whole product In marketing, the whole product concept is an adaptation of the total product concept developed by Ted Levitt, a professor at Harvard Business School. In his book entitled “The Marketing Imagination” Levitt drew attention to the fact that consu ...
concept,
positioning the product, building a
marketing strategy
Marketing strategy allows organizations to focus limited resources on best opportunities to increase sales and achieve a competitive advantage in the market.
Strategic marketing emerged in the 1970s/80s as a distinct field of study, further buil ...
, choosing the most appropriate
distribution channel
Distribution (or place) is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for the consumer or business user who needs it. This can be done directly by the producer or service p ...
and
pricing.
According to Moore, anyone with an innovation or new product should focus on one group of customers at a time, using each group as a base for marketing to the next group. The most difficult step is making the transition between visionaries (early adopters) and
pragmatists (early majority). This is the chasm that he refers to. If a successful firm can create a
bandwagon effect
The bandwagon effect is the tendency for people to adopt certain behaviors, styles, or attitudes simply because others are doing so. More specifically, it is a cognitive bias by which public opinion or behaviours can alter due to particular act ...
in which enough momentum builds, then the product becomes a
de facto standard
A ''de facto'' standard is a custom or convention that has achieved a dominant position by public acceptance or market forces (for example, by early entrance to the market). is a Latin phrase (literally " in fact"), here meaning "in practice b ...
, by creating a complete solution for one intractable problem in one business vertical before building out services in adjacent verticals and expanding on from there.
Foundational Criticism
Everett Rogers, creator of
diffusion of innovations
Diffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. Everett Rogers, a professor of communication studies, popularized the theory in his book ''Diffusion of Innovations''; the boo ...
which is the foundation of chasm theory, challenged the chasm concept saying "Past research shows no support for this claim of a chasm between certain adopter categories. On the contrary, innovativeness, if measured properly, is a continuous variable and there are no sharp breaks or discontinuities between adjacent adopter categories (although there are important differences between them)"
Chasm Concept Formation
A 4-year "concept formation study" conducted by the Diffusion Research Institute (DRI) and published in 2021, documents the origin of the chasm concept, beginning with its creation at Regis McKenna Inc. in the Pacific Northwest.
The DRI study concluded the fundamental theories in Crossing the Chasm, including the concept of a gap or chasm between the early adopters of a product and the mainstream early majority, were developed in the late 1980s by Lee James and Warren Schirtzinger, consulting professionals working at Regis McKenna, Inc.
Legacy and reception
Moore and his publisher originally thought that the book would sell around 5,000 copies. By 2002, ten years after the first publication, more than 300,000 copies had been sold. Moore attributes this to word-of-mouth marketing, resonating initially with high-tech managers, then to engineers, venture capitalists and finally business schools.
In 2006,
Tom Byers, director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, described it as "still the bible for entrepreneurial marketing 15 years later". The book's success has led to a series of follow-up books including ''Inside the Tornado'', ''Living on the Fault Line'', ''The Chasm Companion'' and a consulting company, The Chasm Group.
Analysis and possible antecedents
''Crossing the Chasm'' is closely related to the
technology adoption lifecycle
The technology adoption lifecycle is a sociological model that describes the adoption or acceptance of a new product or innovation, according to the demographic and psychological characteristics of defined adopter groups. The process of adoption o ...
where five main segments are recognized:
innovator
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
s,
early adopter
An early adopter or lighthouse customer is an early customer of a given company, product, or technology. The term originates from Everett M. Rogers' ''Diffusion of Innovations'' (1962).
History
Typically, early adopters are customers who, in addit ...
s, early majority, late majority and laggards.
Moore's theories are only applicable for novel or discontinuous innovations in a
B2B marketplace; adoption of continuous innovations — ones that do not force a significant change of behavior by the customer — are still best described by the original technology adoption lifecycle.
The pre-chasm concept
The concept of the "pre-chasm" in technology entrepreneurship describes the phase prior to the "chasm" in ''Crossing the Chasm''; in pre-chasm thinking, the focus is on the specifics of marketing high-tech products during the early start-up period. The pre-chasm concept was suggested as an extension to Moore's model, arguing that the phase prior to the "chasm" is left unintended and that it, driven by technology
commoditization
In business literature, commoditization is defined as the process by which goods that have economic value and are distinguishable in terms of attributes (uniqueness or brand) end up becoming simple commodities in the eyes of the market or consum ...
and
lean startup
Lean startup is a methodology for developing businesses and products that aims to shorten product development cycles and rapidly discover if a proposed business model is viable; this is achieved by adopting a combination of business-hypothesis-dri ...
principles, requires an ambidextrous approach to
product development
In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product or introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along w ...
alongside
marketing
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
to achieve
product-market fit
Product/market fit, also known as product-market fit, is the degree to which a product satisfies a strong market demand.
Product/market fit has been identified as a first step to building a successful venture in which the company meets early adopt ...
.
See also
*
Product life cycle management
Product life-cycle management (PLM) is the succession of strategies by business management as a product goes through its life-cycle. The conditions in which a product is sold (advertising, saturation) changes over time and must be managed as it ...
References
External links
*
*
* {{YouTube, 4RFBdcJRdbA, How to Cross the Chasm: An Interview with Geoffrey Moore
1991 non-fiction books
Marketing books
Product management
HarperCollins books