DIFFUSION OF THEORY

MINI PROJECT DIFFUSION OF THEORY . DIFFUSION is: “The process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of social system” INNOVATION is: “An idea, practice, or object perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption. In 1962 Everett Rogers combined the information flow research findings with studies about the flow of information and personal influence in several fields including anthropology, sociology and rural agricultural extension work. He developed a diffusion theory. So although it is classified as an important theory in the field of communication, diffusion of innovations there has known practical application in many other disciplines liked sociology, rural sociology, economics and medical sociology. Everett Rogers in his classic work analyzed thousands of diffusion studies in various disciplines over the years and found similarities. All the studies involved an innovation communication form one person to another a society of community setting and the element of time. Communication Channels: Communication is the process by which participants create and share information with one another to reach a mutual understanding. It is also the medium by which messages are transferred from one individual to another. Mass Media channels such as the internet, TV, Radio, Newspapers and many others are very effective in creating knowledge of innovations whereas interpersonal channels like face-to-face, telephone, instant messaging and many more are also effective in forming and changing attitudes toward a  new idea and thus in influencing the decision to adopt or reject a new idea. Time: It is involved in the innovation-decision process, which is the mental process through which an individual or other decision making unit passes from first knowledge of an innovation to forming an attitude toward the innovation to a decision to adopt or reject, to implementation of the new idea, and to confirmation of this decision. An individual seeks information at various stages in the innovation-decision process in order to decrease uncertainty about an innovation’s expected consequences. Another way time involved in diffusion is the rate of adoption which is the relative speed with which an innovation is adopted by members of a social system. The Social System:  This is the fourth main element in the diffusion of new ideas and it is a set of interrelated units that are engaged in a joint problem-solving to accomplish a common goal. The members of a social system may be individuals, informal groups, organizations, and/or subsystems. The social system constitutes a boundary within which an innovation diffuses. Diffusion of innovation has helped in so many ways and many societies have undoubtedly acquired most of their cultural ideas by diffusion. For example, writing, the use of numerals, mathematics and many others went through the process of diffusion of innovation. Diffusion of innovation theory states that an innovation (i.e., an idea, new technique, and new technology) diffuses or spreads through out society in a predictable pattern. A few people will adopt an innovation as soon as they hear of it other people will take longer to try something new and still others will take much longer. The pattern is that of an S-shaped curve. The Innovation: This concerns itself with why certain innovations spread more quickly than other.  Rogers argued that the characteristics which determine an innovation’s rate of adoption are – its Relative advantage, Compatibility, Complexity, Trial ability and Observability to those within the social system. Rogers and other diffusion researchers also identified five separate innovation-adoption categories into which all people in a society will fall. These are; Innovators, Early adopters, Early majority, Late majority and Laggards.  Diffusion theory is mostly concerned with the rate at which innovations spread.

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REF; Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of innovations, Fifth Edition 2003, Free Press New York p221. Moore, Geoffry, A.(1999) Marketing and Selling High Tech Product to Mainstream Customers, revised edition, Harper Collins.