StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Diffusion of Innovations Theory - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
This research discusses the theory of diffusion of innovation, which  was presented in the year 1962 by famous communication and social scholar Everett Rogers, which has been widely adopted socially and is considered a milestone for social and communication related organizations. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.9% of users find it useful
Diffusion of Innovations Theory
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Diffusion of Innovations Theory"

 Diffusion of innovations theory The theory of diffusion of innovation was presented in the year 1962 by famous communication and social scholar Everett Rogers, which has been widely adopted socially and is considered a milestone for social and communication related organizations. In this theory, he proposed a model for diffusion of an innovation throughout the society by making use of several elements. Also some stages of adoption are described so as to understand the process of adopting an innovation clear and visible. Diffusion of innovations theory The theory and model of diffusion of innovations was unanimously presented by an American sociologist and a communication scholar Everett M. Rogers. Born on March 1931 and died in October 2004, Rogers was the first person who describes a model for diffusion of innovations at social or organizational as well as individual terms that elaborates step by step adoption of something new and different. He deduced this theory of diffusion of innovations from his father’s attitude towards adapting new kind of crops for his field as he was reluctant initially but finally get convinced of new specie’s good result. From this human attitude towards testing new phenomena and things and by studying several other cases of diffusion, Rogers invented a five-stage model of diffusion of innovations, in which he divided the population into innovators, early adapters, late adopters or early majority, late majority and finally those who lag behind all of the priors and do not adapt new idea or technique for a particular new phenomena. He invented the term of early adopter for whom that adopts some new innovation by the society earlier than some other who are termed as late adopters. According to Rogers, diffusion is the process by which any improvement or innovation is transmitted throughout the society and the process takes some time to occur completely. Different elements of the society take new innovation differently and have their own perspectives about it. For example, for a farmer like Roger’s father who was interested in mechanical innovations and adapt all such innovations early and without hesitation, but when it comes to some biological or chemical innovation, like planting improved specie, he hesitates and avoid unless the result proves itself to be the better one, thus becoming a late majority amongst the adopters (Salwen & Stacks 1996, Rogers 1983). Roger explained that there are four main elements which participate in the diffusion of any new idea, these are the innovation, channels through which the idea is diffused or communicated, time taken during the spread and the system or society in which the idea is to be spread. It depends entirely upon the individual how much he/she is willing to adopt the innovation. Again there are five stages for the final adoption of an innovation by an individual. First of all, he/she gets aware of the new idea or innovation, then if he/she finds it interesting to test or evaluate then he/she will accept it, otherwise it will be rejected and the process would end here. If the idea is accepted then it is evaluated by some test or trial, to check whether it works according to the requirement or not. Again, if the idea does not full fill the requirement, then it will not be adopted and the process will get end at this stage. If the new idea or the innovations works better or full fill the requirement accordingly, then it would be adopted immediately. As this entire process takes time, the person who is testing the idea may become a late adopter or an early majority. Hence it cannot be intercepted that the innovation is adopted as it is invented or deduced rather it takes time to ensure about itself that it is useful or not (Diffusion of innovations theory 2012, Rogers 1983). Rogers invented a graphical curve by doing some mathematical calculations for different types of consumers of the innovation and the level of market share with respect to that particular innovation. The consumer curve takes an inverted parabolic shape as it starts from the innovators which are very less amongst the total population, i.e., only about 2.5% of the entire group. Then come those who are early adopters of the innovation and they are too in less amount, i.e., 13.5% of the entire population. Then come the early majority or late adopters who are greater in number since the diffusion of innovation is in the air, i.e., 34%. Also, the late majority is 34% of the entire population as they all adopted the innovation extremely late then those who adopted it earlier. Then finally there are laggards who did not respond to the innovation at all and adopted it even later then the late majority, these are almost 16% of the population. With respect to this statistics and the graph obtained, the level of market share (in percentage) gets higher until it reaches a saturation value of 100 when laggards are about to adopt the innovation. This saturation curve is termed as the S-curve in Rogers’ model of diffusion of innovation (Robinson 2009). Before adapting the innovations, all population undergoes the five stage process which is discussed earlier in this essay, i.e., the stages of awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and adoption. Rogers modified the names of these steps in the later editions of his book and termed these as: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation and confirmation. Only the names of these steps were modified and the description remained same as it was previously described. Rogers modified these names as he was of the view that these are more suited with respect to actual descriptions as first of all the knowledge is acquired about some innovation, then a person persuades or dissuades himself to take interest in that innovation so that he/she could decide whether he/she is going to implement or test it or not. Finally after implementation, he/she affirms or confirms about the usefulness or uselessness of the innovation (Orr 2003). This model of diffusion of innovation by Rogers has been widely adopted socially and is considered a milestone for social and communication related organizations since its arrival in 1962. The detailed explanation of this model as it contains the four social elements or factors, the five stages before adoption and the elaborated stages of adoption clearly depicts Rogers’ grip over the subject and his knowledge towards several factors of society, both on individual and on organizational level. This theory and model has been highly praised amongst the sociologist and communications scholars and the model is highly acknowledged amongst the organization so as to develop some better innovation procedures for its betterment and success. Works Cited Rogers, E. M. (1983). Diffusion of innovations. New York: Free Press. Salwen, M. B., & Stacks, D. W. (1996). An Integrated approach to communication theory and research. Mahwah, N.J: Erlbaum. Diffusion of innovations theory. Retrieved on 8/6/2012 from: Orr, G. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations by Everett Rogers (1995). Retrieved on 8/6/2012 from:   Robinson, L. (2009). A summary of Diffusion of Innovations. Retrieved on 8/6/2012 from: Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Diffusion of Innovations Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/sociology/1452450-roger-s
(Diffusion of Innovations Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
https://studentshare.org/sociology/1452450-roger-s.
“Diffusion of Innovations Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1452450-roger-s.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Diffusion of Innovations Theory

Theories and Models of Health Education

The Diffusion of Innovations Theory is of particular importance to influence this age group.... Diffusions of innovations theory Diffusion of innovation theory, unlike the other theories discussed, aims at a larger population.... Social learning theory Social learning theory identifies three major contributors of an individual's behavior including personal experiences, environmental factors and behaviors.... The social learning theory provides society or the environment as a learning setting where an individual experiences situations that affects his perceptions as well as behaviors regarding a particular action, health behavior or activity....
3 Pages (750 words) Book Report/Review

Theories and Models of Health Education

Diffusion of Innovations Theory It entails developing new ideas, mode of communicating the ideas, time factors in question and the interrelated units of the social sphere that help in achieving the objective.... The diffusion of Process Innovations.... These models and theories that provide a framework for health education programs are explained as follows: Health Belief Model This theory is the most popular theory in health education and promotion....
3 Pages (750 words) Assignment

Diffusion of Innovation Theory

f perhaps the majority attention to decision-makers will be Youth :expert's conversation of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory, behavior change communication models, and social marketing method, given the possible of each of these constructs to plea to and at the same time influence great target groups... According to the expert analysis the diffusion of innovations model (DIM) is apprehensive by how innovations, distinct as ideas or practices that are apparent as latest, are spread (Rogers, 2003)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Application of One of Four Individual Theories to Health Behavior

Several health behaviour models such as Health Belief Model, theory of planned behaviour, Community Organization… Further research in this study will be helpful for patients who are suffering from mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety.... This paper uses the theory of planned behavior to critically analyze the prevalence of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety among young adults and middle aged groups.... The theory of Planned Behavior is one of the four individual theories to health behavior that can effectively be used to explain the high prevalence of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety among young adults and middle aged individuals....
3 Pages (750 words) Term Paper

Motivation within Marketing Process

In the first section (literature review), a total of four consumer behaviour theories such as marginal utility theory, consumer choice theory, perceived risk theory, and Diffusion of Innovations Theory are discussed to gain a deep theoretical understanding of various factors that would influence a consumer's degree of motivation and thereby purchasing behaviour....
17 Pages (4250 words) Essay

Diffusion of Innovations Theory with Freire's Model for Adult education

In addition, these models consist of elements, which are necessary for providing an elaborate structure of acquiring and diffusion of innovations and Freires Model diffusion of innovations and Freires Model Diffusion of innovation theory seeks to provide an explanation for the manner in which a population takes up innovations.... On the contrary, Rogers's theory points that adoption of innovations is faster with innovations that offer compatibility, trialability, relative advantage and simplicity....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Adoption of New Technology Systems

In Roger's theory of diffusion of innovations, five key elements that can be used to In this study, their effective application in promoting adoption of a new Electronic Health Records System, EHR, at a nursing institution will be discussed.... In facilitating less resistance and higher chances of adoption of the EHR systems, it would be wise to apply the Roger's theory of diffusion of innovations.... The second element in Roger's theory is...
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The Contribution of New Communications Media to the Diffusion Process for Innovations

Moreover, market pressures force people to use the most efficient communication technologies (Milner, 2003) Marketing is an area therefore in which Diffusion of Innovations Theory is of particular interest.... This is what Rogers (2003) in his book, 'diffusion of innovations', refers to as a 'common problem' i.... In effect, the market competition accelerates the diffusion of innovations, and there is greater interconnectivity as a result.... “how to speed up the rate of diffusion of an innovation” (p....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us