Purpose. The main objective of our research is to determine the factors that affect the adoption of new products launched via social media among millennials in Cameroon. Design/Methodology/Approach. The study is characterized as exploratory, descriptive research, operationalized through a survey, and applied to 350 millennials using various social media. The research involves a qualitative analysis to identify potential variables influencing millennials’ adoption of new products through social media, followed by a quantitative analysis, including data collection procedures, validation, and data analysis. Findings and implications. We identified trust and social commerce components as the most influencing millennials’ adoption of new products. Other factors also contribute to adoption: product curiosity, information quality, and ease of use. On the other hand, some factors tend to harm adoption, notably perceived novelty and perceived risk, reflecting an aversion to innovative products that increase perceived risk. These findings are of great importance within the scope of new technology adoption and marketing innovation because they provide managers with useful tools to define a strategy targeting millennials. Limitations. As a limitation, we highlight the reduced number of interviews conducted during the qualitative stage, which may have left out some relevant analysis factors. Originality. Social media platforms are promising tools for marketing campaigns, but more knowledge is needed on the factors influencing social media campaigns for new product introduction (Baum et al., 2019) and adoption. Moreover, there is a need for research concerning the adoption of new products launched through social media, targeting millennials in Cameroon. Thus, the originality of our research is based on the proposition of factors and characteristics taken into consideration by millennials when adopting new product launches through social media. These findings add to the growing body of knowledge on social commerce, marketing innovation and product management. Moreover, the study provides new insights regarding factors that can lead to adopting new products using social media. Such studies can lead to stimulating marketing innovation in emerging and developing countries regarding the use of social media.
Fandio et al. (Wed,) studied this question.