What is trialability in innovation?
- innovation is able to be tried or experienced before adopting/buying it
- trialability high = innovation is likely to be adopted
What is relative advantage in innovation?
- compared to alternative, new innovation has more or better advantages
- relative advantage high = innovation is likely to be adopted
What is observability in innovation?
- advantages/benefits of innovation and very noticable or easy to observe
- observability high = innovation is likely to be adopted
- ex: school system and capitalism (low observability, outcome is not clear), new lipstick (high observability)
What is involved in the concept of diffusion of innovations?
How does a new idea or tech spread out in society?
- persuasion on a societal level
- how new idea or tech is accepted in society
–> innovation: something perceived as NEW in society (ideas, products, tech, systems)
What is innovation?
anything that brings a new concept or idea that improves upon a previous issue/object
“the process of introducing new ideas, methods, products, or services that create value by solving problems or improving existing ones”
What are the characteristics of innovations?
– Compatibility
– Trialability
– Relative Advantage
– Observability
– Complexity
What is compatibility in innovation?
- when an innovation is in harmony with a preexisting and prevailing belief, norm, and technology
- compatibility high = innovation is likely to be adopted
What is dependence in diffusion of innovations?
- humans prefer things that we are used to or familiar with
- we rely on existing knowledge and norms
- no easy to change one’s preferences in general
- adopting new tech is more difficult than using existing tech
How can dependence be overcome?
compatibility: psychological bumper, try to reduce barrier of disimilarity by increasing similarity of previous and new tech
relative advantage: give incentives to adapt new tech because of great advantages
trialability and observability: reduce cost of adopting new tech
What are the Four Elements of Diffusion?
- Adopter
- Time
- Communication Channel
- Societal System
What are the categories of adopter?
– Innovator
– Early Adopter
– Early Majority
– Late Majority
– Laggard
What is the innovator?
first people to adopt new technology
- risk-taking tendency
- high socio-ecomic status
- shows an interest in cutting-edge tech and scientific knowledge
- dissimilarities from the majority in the society
What is the early adopter?
important adopters because they determine the success of the diffusion
- opinion leadership
- high-socioeconomic status
- influence on other adopters (e.g. friends, neighbors, community)
- influence: early adopter (leader) –> early majority (follower)
What is complexity in innovation?
- an innovation is difficult to learn use or grasp
- low complexity = innovation is likely to be adopted
What is the early majority?
- Average adopter
–> takes longer to adopt than the previous two
–> average socio-economic status
–> decision only after observing others adoption of the innovation
–> influenced by early adopter
What is the adoption process in diffusion of innovations>
– Knowledge
– Persuasion
– Decision
– Implementation
– Confirmation
What is the knowledge stage in the adoption process?
first exposure to new innovation, but not fully informed yet
- first awareness
- mass media are effective to increase knowledge
What is the persuasion stage in the adoption process?
having interest and actively seeking information
- opinion leaders have critical role in persuasion
- interpersonal influence: provides info and interpretation
What is the decision stage in the adoption process?
decide whether to adopt or reject new technology
adoption or rejection can lead to later acceptance or later rejection
What is the implementation stage in the adoption process?
employing new technology
- opportunity to try it out for themselves and understand usefullness/effectiveness
- outcome of implementation –> influence on final decision
What is the confirmation stage in the adoption process?
final decision on continued use of new tech
- satisfactory: continue
- dissatisfactory: stop/rejection
What are the primary communication channels for diffusion of innovations?
- mass media
- interpersonal channel
Explain the mass media communication channel in diffusion of innovation.
Good at:
- increasing awareness and knowledge
- spreading innovation to mass audience quickly
- helping to reach a critical mass
Explain the interpersonal communication channel in diffusion of innovation.
Good at:
- persuading others to adopt
- helping them for implementation
- personal influence (face-to-face)
Bad at:
- helping reach critical mass
