How the Technology Readiness Index (TRI) was Developed

Techno-Ready Marketing is based on years of rigorous research by the authors, Professor A. Parasuraman and Charles L. Colby. The culmination of this research is a comprehensive theory of technology adoption that is a leap forward from traditional thinking. They have developed an index quantifying consumer techno-readiness, and a technology user segmentation that classifies buyers as Explorers, Pioneers, Skeptics, Paranoids and Laggards.

The original research was based on a combination of survey data gathering and real-world validation. First, they conducted pilot studies with organizations in the services, education and technology sectors. In 1999, they launched the National Technology Readiness Survey (NTRS), an annual telephone survey among the general population of U.S. Adults. The study measures beliefs about technology in four key areas - innovation, optimism, discomfort and insecurity - and tracks behaviors in evolving areas such as the Internet, e-service and e-commerce.

The NTRS is sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. The NTRS has been continually updated in the United States over the past decade, providing a unique longitudinal picture of changing technology patterns.

Parasuraman published a foundational article on the Technology Readiness Index, the basis of the NTRS, in the Journal of Service Research (May 2000). Since then, the index has been translated into numerous languages and replicated by scholars in scores of countries. The research has also spanned many disciplines including marketing, accounting, healthcare, hospitality, agriculture, political science and IT.