Rogers (1995) identified the role of product characteristics in determining the successful diffusion of products into the market. The characteristics were: relative advantage; compatibility; complexity; trialability; observability. Meuter et al (2005, p.81) writing in the Journal of Marketing provided some of the measures that can be used to assess each of these. For example, respondents were asked about trialability using the following questionnaire items: 

  • I can use the [innovation] on a trial basis to see what it can do.
  • It is easy to try out the [innovation] without a big commitment.
  • I’ve had opportunities to try out the [innovation] 

In contrast observability was measured in the following way: 

  • I would have no difficulty telling others about the results of using the [innovation]. 
  • I believe I could communicate to others the outcomes of using the [innovation]. 
  • The results of using the [innovation] are apparent to me.

ith innovations such as the Copenhagen wheel (see video below) it can be interesting to assess how they rate using the criteria such as the ones above.