Transcript No Slide Title

Diffusion of innovation
Theory and concepts
Diffusion of Innovation
Everett Rogers (1995) defined innovation
diffusion as ‘the process by which an
innovation is communicated through certain
channels over time among the members of a
social system.’ (1995:11)
The theory relies on four key concepts:
innovation, communication channels, time
and social systems.
Diffusion of innovation: the concepts
• Innovation: an idea, practice or object that is
perceived as new by an individual or unit of
adoption
• Communication channels: the means by
which individuals hear about an innovation
• Time: refers to how long it takes for an
innovation to be accepted, taken up and
implemented by an individual or organisation
• Social system: is the environment within
which the diffusion process takes place.
Innovation characteristics
There are five characteristics of
innovations:
– Relative advantage
– Compatibility
– Complexity
– Trialability
– Observability
Innovation characteristics
Relative advantage: the degree to which an innovation is perceived
as better than the idea that it supersedes. Whether the new idea is
really better than the one before it is irrelevant as long as it is
perceived as having more of an advantage or appeal. The
advantage may be measured in terms of economic value as well as
social prestige, convenience or satisfaction.
Compatibility: the degree to which an innovation is perceived as
being consistent with the existing values, past experiences and
needs of potential adopters. An innovation that does not fit, or is
incompatible with a group’s social system, values and mores will not
be embraced as rapidly as one that is compatible.
Innovation characteristics
Complexity: The degree to which an innovation is perceived as
difficult to understand and use. The more complex something is, or
perceived to be, the slower the rate of adoption within a given social
system. This is particularly true when the adopters must learn a new
set of skills or knowledge (cognitive) elements.
Trialability: the degree to which an innovation may be experimented
with on a limited basis. The concept of ‘Try it, you’ll like it. And if you
don’t, bring it back for a full refund’ is very powerful in getting people
to try new things. The more an innovation is made available to try
without risk or penalty, the more likely it will be adopted. The ability to
‘bring it back’ reduces the adopter’s uncertainty about whether s/he is
going to get stuck with something they don’t like, can’t use, or don’t
want.
Innovation characteristics
Observability: the degree to which the results of an innovation are
visible to others. The easier it is for people to see the results of an
innovation, the more likely they are to adopt it. If they see it, they’ll
ask the innovator about it and, by getting information, reduce the
uncertainty of its potential use/adoption.
Innovator characteristics
• Many new innovations have actually been
around for a long time but have been known
by only a few individuals or a small group.
• Before an innovation ‘takes off’ and is widely
adopted, a critical mass of adopters (10–
25%) must be using the innovation.
• An aspect of innovation research studies the
difference between early and late adopters.
Innovator characteristics
Innovativeness is the degree to which an
individual is earlier or later in adopting an
innovation relative to other members of the
system. Rogers categorised adopters into five
groups:
•
•
•
•
•
Innovators – 2.5%
Early adopters – 13.5%
Early majority – 34%
Late majority – 34%
Laggards – 16%.
Innovator characteristics
Innovators are eager to try new ideas. They are generally are able
to cope with uncertainty. They may or may not be respected by
peers.
Early adopters: are successful and respected by their peers. They
often fill the role of opinion leaders and change agents.
Early majority: think carefully before adopting a new idea, but are
usually ahead of the majority.
Late majority: are cautious about innovations and may only adopt
them in response to economic reasons or peer pressure.
Laggards: are traditionalists who strongly resist innovation.
Laggards are often quite isolated in their peer group
Organisation characteristics
Rogers discussed a number of
organisation characteristics that he
believed influenced the rate and
success of the diffusion of an
innovation.
Organisation characteristics
Characteristic
Description
Centralisation Hierarchical in
power/ control
Complexity
Staff exhibit a high
level of knowledge
and expertise
Relationship to
innovativeness
Tend to be less
accepting on new
ideas
Tend to be more
innovative – but
may have
difficulty in
reaching
consensus
Organisation characteristics
Characteristic
Description
Formalisation
The degree to which
staff follow rules and
procedures
InterThe degree to which
connectednes social systems are
linked by
s
interpersonal
networks
Relationship to
innovativeness
Less innovative
but regulation
improves
implementation
Strong
networks—
innovation easier
to introduce
Organisation characteristics
Characteristic
Description
Relationship to
innovativeness
Organisational Degree and availability
slack
of uncommitted
resources
The more the
better for
implementation
Size
Generally the
more the better
Number of staff; size of
budget
Summary: issues and theory in
diffusion of innovation
Once the innovation has been introduced, time and timing become
critical factors in the overall rate and degree of innovation adoption.
For most innovations, the rate of adoption is relatively slow until a
critical mass of adopters has accumulated approximately 10–25% of
the total number of potential adopters. Once critical mass has been
achieved, then the diffusion process rolls out rather rapidly, peaking
at somewhere around 80–85% of the members. From there, the
rate flattens out and sometimes fails. Dependent on the technology,
it may be weeks, months or years before the cycle repeats itself.
Not all innovations are adopted at the same rate within any given
system or group.
References
•
Everett Rogers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_Rogers
•
Rogers, E. (1995). Diffusion of Innovations (4th edn). The Free Press. New York