History of Innovation & Adoption

The Diffusion of Innovation Theory was first discussed historically in 1903 by the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde who plotted the original S-shaped diffusion curve. (Toews, 2003)

Role of Interpersonal Network

A study on the diffusion of tetracycline, a new medical drug, in 1966 from Pfizer How physicians adopted the new innovation and how mass communication influenced this adoption process. Different with previous diffusion research that relied on respondents recall of how they adopted new technology, this study gathered data both from physicians' responses and pharmacies' prescription. In addition to this, Coleman et al. (1966) asked their respondents to list their interpersonal connections in order to investigate the effect of interpersonal network links with the new drug adoption. The result shows that the percentage of adoption of the new drug followed an S-shaped curve, but that the rate of tetracycline adoption was faster than the rate of other innovations adoption. The researchers also found that doctors who are cosmopolite were likely to adopt the new drug. One of the most important findings was that doctors who had more interpersonal networks adopted the new medical drug more quickly than those that did not. This meant that interpersonal communication channels with peers had a strong influence on the adoption process. Katz, E., & Mentzel, H. (1966). Coleman, J. S., In this case, the Columbia University Drug Study made a contribution to identify the importance of social networks in the diffusion process.

Stages of adoption (Rogers 1995):

Awareness - the individual is exposed to the innovation but lacks complete information about it Interest - the individual becomes interested in the new idea and seeks additional information about it Evaluation - individual mentally applies the innovation to his present and anticipated future situation, and then decides whether or not to try it

Trial - the individual makes full use of the innovation

Adoption - the individual decides to continue the full use of the innovation

Factors affecting diffusion

Innovation characteristics Individual characteristics Social network characteristics Others

Individual characteristics
Innovators had larger farms, were more educated, more prosperous and more risk-oriented
Early adopters younger, more educated, tended to be community leaders Early majority more conservative but open to new ideas, active in community and influence to neighbours Late majority older, less educated, fairly conservative and less socially active

Laggards very conservative, had small farms and capital, oldest and least educated

Innovation characteristics
Observability
The degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to potential adopters

Relative Advantage
The degree to which the innovation is perceived to be superior to current practice

Compatibility
The degree to which the innovation is perceived to be consistent with socio-cultural values, previous ideas, and/or perceived needs

Trialability
The degree to which the innovation can be experienced on a limited basis

Complexity
The degree to which an innovation is difficult to use or understand.