Techno-Ready Marketing: How and Why Your Customers Adopt Technology
A. Parasuraman and Charles L. Colby

In the context of a general set of powerful techno-ready marketing strategies, Parasuraman and Colby introduce "Technology Readiness (TR)," a groundbreaking concept that enables managers to measure and assess a customer's predisposition to adopt new technologies. Employing their "TR" construct--a psychological amalgam of fears, hopes, desires, and frustrations about technology--the authors identify five types of technology customers: optimistic "Explorers," innovative "Pioneers," uncomfortable "Skeptics," and insecure "Paranoids" and "Laggards."

Using these typologies, organizations can customize their technology strategies by combining insights from the authors' case studies with general marketing strategies presented in the book. Essential reading will be the chapter devoted to Parasuraman's Pyramid Model, which explains the critical role technology plays in a marketing organization as a link between employees, the organization, and the customer. Finally, the authors have included a self-administered quiz so readers can score their own "Technology Readiness" and a chapter on the "Technology Marketing Audit" to provide a framework for taking immediate action based on the precepts in the book.

Who should read Techno-Ready Marketing?

This work is for anyone interested in what buyers really think about technology, what influences buyer decisions and what determines user satisfaction. It is of particular interest to:

• Marketing professionals
• IT professionals
• Human resource professionals
• Scholars of technology adoption
• Instructors teaching courses on technology marketing and consumer behavior