The Diffusion of Innovation
The diffusion of innovation theory seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
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List the four main elements that influence the spread of new ideas and technologies
KEY POINTS
- Everett Rogers, a professor of rural sociology, popularized the theory in his 1962 book Diffusion of Innovations.
- Four main elements that influence the spread of a new idea are the innovation, communication channels, time, and the social system.
- Diffusion of innovations manifests itself in different ways in various cultures and fields and is highly subjective to the type of adopters and innovation decision process.
- Marketers are particularly interested in the diffusion process as it determines the success and failure of any new product introduced in the market.
TERM
- innovation
As used here, innovation describes an idea or product that is new to the company in question.
The Diffusion of Innovation
The diffusion of innovation is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures. The origins of the diffusion of innovation theory are varied and span multiple disciplines. Everett Rogers, a professor of rural sociology, popularized the theory in his 1962 book Diffusion of Innovations. He said diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. Rogers synthesized research from over 508 diffusion studies and produced a theory for adopting innovations among individuals and organizations. Rogers espoused the theory that four main elements influence the spread of a new idea:
- The innovation - According to Rogers, an innovation is "an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption".
- Communication channels - These are "how messages get from one individual to another".
- Time - Rogers wrote that "the innovation-decision period is the length of time required to pass through the innovation-decision process. The rate of adoption is the relative speed with which members of a social system adopt an innovation".
- Social system - According to Rogers, a social system is "a set of interrelated units that are engaged in joint problem solving to accomplish a common goal".
Diffusion of innovations manifest themselves in different ways in various cultures and fields and is highly subjective to the type of adopters and innovation decision process. Marketers are particularly interested in the diffusion process as it determines the success and failure of any new product introduced in the market. They usually look forward to procuring the largest amount of adoption within the shortest period of time. Thus, a marketer needs to understand the diffusion process to ensure proper management of the spread of the new product or service.
Technology and Market Share
With successive groups of consumers adopting the new technology (shown in blue), its market share (yellow) will eventually reach the saturation level.
Source: Boundless, http://oer2go.org/mods/en-boundless/www.boundless.com/marketing/textbooks/boundless-marketing-textbook/products-9/the-spread-of-new-products-73/the-diffusion-of-innovation-366-10585/index.html
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