Exploring the initial diffusion of innovation, this article investigates how early adopters reach a tipping point with a shared and emphatic preference for atypical products. In a community of enthusiasts where members mutually observes each other, we show that potential buyers are reluctant to express a preference for highly atypical products despite their vanguard positive attitude toward atypicality. We argue that such reluctance is driven by a membership-validating concern: while favoring highly atypical products, potential buyers still need to avoid atypical but low-quality alternatives that would undermine their sense of membership to the vanguard group. Consistently, we hypothesize that the endorsement granted by other community members to a basket of atypical products alleviates—and eventually removes—potential buyers’ reluctance. Between equally endorsed alternatives, potential buyers will then include the most atypical one in their displayed preference, thereby revealing their vanguard attitude and validating their membership to the in-group. We situate our analysis in a community of enthusiasts for electronic music recordings and find robust support to our hypotheses. By raising the bar of how a product must be to be distinctive, membership-seeking enthusiasts raise the threshold of atypicality. In so doing, they also expand the range of products deemed typical by the general consumer. These twined processes fuel the ongoing diffusion of innovation.

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不情愿的偏好：爱好者社区和非典型创新的传播

本文探索了创新的最初传播，调查了早期采用者如何通过对非典型产品的共同和强烈偏好达到临界点。在一个成员相互观察的爱好者社区中，我们表明，尽管潜在买家对非典型性持先锋积极态度，但他们不愿意表达对高度非典型性产品的偏好。我们认为，这种不情愿是由会员资格验证问题驱动的：在偏爱高度非典型产品的同时，潜在买家仍然需要避免非典型但低质量的替代品，因为这会破坏他们对先锋集团的会员意识。始终如一地，我们假设其他社区成员对一篮子非典型产品的认可减轻并最终消除了潜在买家的不情愿。在同样认可的替代品之间，潜在买家将在他们显示的偏好中包括最非典型的一个，从而揭示他们的先锋态度并验证他们在组内的成员身份。我们将我们的分析置于电子音乐录音爱好者的社区中，并为我们的假设找到强有力的支持。通过提高产品必须如何与众不同的标准，寻求会员资格的爱好者提高了非典型性的门槛。通过这样做，他们还扩大了普通消费者认为典型的产品范围。这些相互交织的过程推动了创新的持续传播。我们将我们的分析置于电子音乐录音爱好者的社区中，并为我们的假设找到强有力的支持。通过提高产品必须如何与众不同的标准，寻求会员资格的爱好者提高了非典型性的门槛。通过这样做，他们还扩大了普通消费者认为典型的产品范围。这些相互交织的过程推动了创新的持续传播。我们将我们的分析置于电子音乐录音爱好者的社区中，并为我们的假设找到强有力的支持。通过提高产品必须如何与众不同的标准，寻求会员资格的爱好者提高了非典型性的门槛。通过这样做，他们还扩大了普通消费者认为典型的产品范围。这些相互交织的过程推动了创新的持续传播。