Diffusion is defined as the
process by which an innovation [novelty] is relayed [communicated] through
certain channels over time amongst
the members of a social system. It is a special type of communication concerned with the spread of messages that are
perceived as new ideas.
On
the other hand, an Innovation, simply
put, is “an idea perceived as new by the individual.”
An
Innovation is an idea, practice, or
object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption. The
characteristics of an innovation, as perceived by the members of a social
system, determine its rate of adoption.
The
four main elements in the diffusion of new ideas comprise the Innovation; Communication
channels; Time and the social system (that is the context where the novelty is
being communicated).
Now
a look at the elements;
1.
The innovation: Why do certain
innovations spread more quickly than others?
For an innovation to spread and be adopted; it should show characteristics
which determine the innovation’s rate of adoption.
And they include Relative advantage; Compatibility; Complexity;
Trialability and Observability to those people within the social system.
2.
Communication: Communication is the
process by which participants create and share information with one another in
order to reach a mutual understanding.
A
communication channel is the means by which messages get from one individual to
another. Mass media channels are more effective in creating knowledge of
innovations, whereas interpersonal channels are more effective in forming and
changing attitudes toward a new idea, and thus in influencing the decision to
adopt or reject a new idea. Most individuals evaluate an innovation, not on the
basis of scientific research by experts, but through the subjective evaluations
of near-peers who have adopted the innovation.
3.
Time: The time dimension is involved
in diffusion in three ways.
About Theorist
Everett
M. Rogers (March 6, 1931 – October 21, 2004) was a communication scholar,
sociologist, writer, and teacher. He is best known for originating the
diffusion of innovations theory and for introducing the term early adopter.
Rogers
was born on his family's Pinehurst Farm in Carroll, Iowa, in 1931. His father
loved electromechanical farm innovations, but was highly reluctant to utilize
biological–chemical innovations, so he resisted adopting the new hybrid seed
corn, even though it yielded 25% more crop and was resistant to drought. During
the Iowa drought of 1936, while the hybrid seed corn stood tall on the
neighbor’s farm, the crop on the Rogers’ farm wilted. Rogers’ father was
finally convinced.
Rogers
had no plans to attend university until a school teacher drove him and some
classmates to Ames to visit Iowa State University. Rogers decided to pursue a
degree in agriculture there. He then served in the Korean War for two years. He
returned to Iowa State University to earn a Ph.D. in sociology and statistics
in 1957.
Source: Wikipedia
5-Step Process
in diffusion process:
1.
Knowledge: A person becomes aware of
an innovation and has some idea of how it functions.
2.
Persuasion: A person forms a
favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the innovation.
3.
Decision: A person engages in
activities that lead to a choice to adopt or reject the innovation.
4.
Implementation: A person puts an
innovation into use.
5.
Confirmation: A person evaluates the
results of an innovation-decision already made.
The
second way in which time is involved in diffusion is in the innovativeness of
an individual or other unit of adoption. Innovativeness is the degree to which
an individual or other unit of adoption is relatively earlier in adopting new
ideas than other members of a social system.
There
are five adopter categories, or classifications of the members of a social
system on the basis on their innovativeness:
Innovators constitutes 2.5%; Early adopters 13.5%; Early majority 34%; Late
majority 34% and Laggards 16%.
The
third way in which time is involved in diffusion is in rate of adoption. The
rate of adoption is the relative speed with which an innovation is adopted by
members of a social system. The rate of adoption is usually measured as the
number of members of the system that adopt the innovation in a given time
period.
As
shown previously, an innovation’s rate of adoption is influenced by the five
perceived attributes of an innovation (Time/Infected Population).
The social
system;
the fourth main element in the diffusion of new ideas is the social system. A
social system is defined as a set of interrelated units that are engaged in
joint problem-solving to accomplish a common goal. The members or units of a
social system may be individuals, informal groups, organisations, and/or
subsystems.
The
social system constitutes a boundary within which an innovation diffuses. How
the system’s social structure affects diffusion has been studied. A second area
of research involved how norms affect diffusion. Norms are the established
behavior patterns for the members of a social system.
A
third area of research has had to do with opinion leadership, the degree to
which an individual is able to influence informally other individuals’
attitudes or overt behavior in a desired way with relative frequency. A change
agent is an individual who attempts to influence clients’ innovation-decisions
in a direction that is deemed desirable by a change agency.
A
final crucial concept in understanding the nature of the diffusion process is
the critical mass, which occurs at the point at which enough individuals have
adopted an innovation that the innovation’s further rate of adoption becomes
self-sustaining. The concept of the critical mass implies that outreach activities
should be concentrated on getting the use of the innovation to the point of
critical mass.
These
efforts should be focused on the early adopters, the 13.5 percent of the
individuals in the system to adopt an innovation after the innovators have
introduced the new idea into the system. Early adopters are often opinion
leaders, and serve as role-models for many other members of the social system.
Early adopters are instrumental in getting an innovation to the point of
critical mass, and hence, in the successful diffusion of an innovation.
Relative advantage is
the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it
supersedes. The degree of relative advantage may be measured in economic terms,
but social prestige, convenience, and satisfaction are also important factors.
It does not matter so much if an innovation has a great deal of objective
advantage. What does matter is whether an individual perceives the innovation
as advantageous. The greater the perceived relative advantage of an innovation,
the more rapid its rate of adoption will be.
Compatibility is the degree
to which an innovation is perceived as being consistent with the existing
values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters. An idea that is
incompatible with the values and norms of a social system will not be adopted
as rapidly as an innovation that is compatible. The adoption of an incompatible
innovation often requires the prior adoption of a new value system, which is a
relatively slow process.
Complexity is the degree to which an innovation
is perceived as difficult to understand and use. Some innovations are readily
understood by most members of a social system; others are more complicated and
will be adopted more slowly. New ideas that are simpler to understand are
adopted more rapidly than innovations that require the adopter to develop new
skills and understandings.
Trialability is the degree to which an
innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis. New ideas that can be
tried on the installment plan will generally be adopted more quickly than
innovations that are not divisible. An innovation that is trialable represents
less uncertainty to the individual who is considering it for adoption, who can
learn by doing.
Observability is the degree to which the results of an
innovation are visible to others. The easier it is for individuals to see the
results of an innovation, the more likely they are to adopt it. Such visibility
stimulates peer discussion of a new idea, as friends and neighbors of an
adopter often request innovation-evaluation information about it.
Innovators are the first 2.5 percent of
the individuals in a system to adopt an innovation. Venturesomeness is almost
an obsession with innovators.
This interest in new ideas leads them out of a
local circle of peer networks and into more cosmopolite social relationships.
Communication patterns and friendships among a clique of innovators are common,
even though the geographical distance between the innovators may be
considerable. Being an innovator has several prerequisites.
Control of
substantial financial resources is helpful to absorb the possible loss from an
unprofitable innovation. The ability to understand and apply complex technical
knowledge is als needed.
The innovator must be able to cope with a high degree of uncertainty about an
innovation at the time of adoption. While an innovator may not be respected by
the other members of a social system, the innovator plays an important role in
the diffusion process: That of launching the new idea in the system by
importing the innovation from outside of the system's boundaries. Thus, the
innovator plays a gatekeeping role in the flow of new ideas into a system.
Early adopters are the next 13.5 percent of the individuals in a system to
adopt an innovation. Early adopters are a more integrated part of the local
system than are innovators. Whereas innovators are cosmopolitans early adopters
are localities.
This adopter category, more than any other, has the greatest
degree of opinion leadership in most systems. Potential adopters look to early
adopters for advice and information about the innovation. This adopter category
is generally sought by change agents as a local missionary for speeding the
diffusion process.
Because early adopters are not too far ahead of the average
individual in innovativeness, they serve as a role-model for many other members
of a social system. The early adopter is respected by his or her peers, and is
the embodiment of successful, discrete use of new ideas. The early adopter
knows that to continue to earn this esteem of colleagues and to maintain a
central position in the communication networks of the system, he or she must
make judicious innovation-decisions. The early adopter decreases uncertainty
about a new idea by adopting it, and then conveying a subjective evaluation of
the innovation to near-peers through interpersonal networks.
Early
majority is the next 34 percent of the individuals in a system to adopt an
innovation. The early majority adopt new ideas just before the average member
of a system. The early majority interact frequently with their peers, but
seldom hold positions of opinion leadership in a system. The early majority's
unique position between the very early and the relatively late to adopt makes
them an important link in the diffusion process. They provide
interconnectedness in the system's interpersonal networks. The early majority
are one of the two most numerous adopter categories, making up one- third of
the members of a system. The early majority may deliberate for some time before
completely adopting a new idea. "Be not the first by which the new is
tried, nor the last to lay the old aside," fits the thinking of the early
majority. They follow with deliberate willingness in adopting innovations, but
seldom lead.
Late majority is the next 34 percent of the individuals in a
system to adopt an innovation. The late majority adopt new ideas just after the
average member of a system. Like the early majority, the late majority make up
one-third of the members of a system. Adoption may be the result of increasing
network pressures from peers. Innovations are approached with a skeptical and
cautious air, and the late majority do not adopt until most others in their
system have done so. The weight of system norms must definitely favor an
innovation before the late majority are convinced. The pressure of peers is
necessary to motivate adoption. Their relatively scarce resources mean that
most of the uncertainty about a new idea must be removed before the late
majority feel that it is safe to adopt.
Laggards are the last 16 percent
of the individuals in a system to adopt an innovation. They possess almost no
opinion leadership. Laggards are the most localite in their outlook of all
adopter categories; many are near isolates in the social networks of their system.
The point of reference for the laggard is the past. Decisions are often made in
terms of what has been done previously. Laggards tend to be suspicious of
innovations and change agents. Resistance to innovations on the part of
laggards may be entirely rational from the laggard's viewpoint, as their
resources are limited and they must be certain that a new idea will not fail
before they can adopt.
Source: Wikimedia
Credit
- Diffusion
of innovation model. Source: Rogers (1995)
Source:
Everett M. Rogers http://nnlm.gov/pnr/eval/rogers.html December 10, 1997
http://www.tcw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Communication%20and%20Information%20Technology/
Diffusion_of_Innovations_Theory.doc/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_Rogers
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