Consumer Innovativeness and Personal Characteristics – A Study Among the Inhabitants of the Poznań Agglomeration

Abstract Research background: One of the main ways companies gain and maintain a competitive advantage in many markets is to introduce product innovations. The degree of their acceptance by consumers is determined by many factors, among which the level of consumer innovativeness is of great importance. The paper presents the results of a study on consumer innovativeness of the adult inhabitants of the Poznań agglomeration. Purpose: The main purpose of the study was to recognize the relationship between consumer innovativeness and consumer’s personal characteristics and to advance knowledge regarding consumer innovativeness. Research methodology: The research was carried out using the direct interview technique with the use of an interview questionnaire, on a sample of 795 adult inhabitants of the Poznań agglomeration. Results: The results show that there is a directly proportional relationship between consumer innovativeness and education or material status and an inversely proportional relationship between consumer innovativeness and age in the pro-innovative dimension. The results indicate that there are statistically significant differences in consumer innovativeness between groups based on respondents’ personal characteristics – gender, age, level of education and material situation. The results however are ambiguous. Novelty: The novelty of the study is based on the verification of the relations between consumer innovativeness and their selected personal characteristics, with the example of Poland.