Diffusion of

Innovations
Dr. Kelly Haws

Key Questions

What is an innovation?
What makes innovations/new ideas
spread?
How do innovations diffuse in the
marketplace?
What are different type of innovations
and innovation adopters?

Readings

Gourville, John T. (2006), Note on Innovation

Diffusion: Rogers Five Factors, Harvard Business
Review,
Crossing the Chasm, Chapter 1, High-Tech Marketing
Illusion
The Tipping Point, Chapter 1, The Three Rules of
Epidemics
Made to Stick, Introduction, What Sticks? and
Epilogue

What is an innovation?

A product, service, attribute, or idea that

consumers within a market segment
perceive as new and that has an effect on
existing consumption patterns.

What is an Innovation?

What is a New Product?

Newness Compared with Existing Products

Newness in Legal Terms (FTC)

Functional difference
Up to 6 months after it enters regular distribution

Newness from the Companys Perspective

Product line extension

Significant jump in innovation or technology

What is an Innovation?
Newness from the Consumers Perspective
Continuous Innovation no new behaviors must
be learned
Dynamically Continuous Innovation only minor
changes in behavior are required for use
Discontinuous Innovation requires consumer to
learn entirely new consumption patterns to use
product

What are MOST new products?

More ways to Classify

Innovations: By Benefits Offered

Functional Innovations (e.g., Roomba)

Aesthetic or Hedonic Innovations (e.g., new
foods, types of music)
Symbolic Innovations

Trucker Hat
Word gay
Appearance

(tanning, weight)

More ways to Classify

Innovations: By Breadth

Breadth = Range of new and different

uses for a particular product

Adoption of Innovations and

Resistance to Adoption

Adoption

Are Consumers Willing to Adopt

Innovations?

A purchase of an innovation by an individual

consumer or household

Resistance a desire not to buy an innovation,

even in the face of pressure to do so

Why might consumers not want to adopt

innovations?

How Consumers Adopt

Innovations

Diffusion

Diffusion

The percentage of the population that

has adopted an innovation at a specific
point in time

How Do Offerings Diffuse Through a

Market?

S-Shaped Curve

A diffusion curve characterized by slow initial

growth followed by a rapid increase in
diffusion

The S-Shaped Diffusion Curve

The Exponential Diffusion Curve

Exponential Curve

A diffusion curve characterized by rapid initial growth

Diffusion and Product Life Cycle Curves

Rogers Five Factors

Gourville, John T. (2006), Note on

Innovation Diffusion: Rogers Five
Factors, Harvard Business Review,
http://www.harvardbusiness.org, pp. 16. (Library)

Rogers Five Factors

Describe the categorization of

innovation adopters model (in this
reading and in the Crossing the
Chasm reading next). ***

Innovation Adopter Groups

For any product to succeed, must be adopted by innovators and

early adopters

Who are early adopters?

49% own an MP3 player

70% have broadband Internet at home
Roughly 60% are sick of advertising
today
1.5 times more likely than the general
population to own a laptop
About 40% of Gen Xers (ages 28-41)
are early adopters
Source: Whos on First?, Marketing News, 11.1.07

Rogers Five Factors

What are Rogers 5 factors and do they

contradict or support what we learned
in The Three Rules of Epidemics? ***

Why or why not?***

What Influences Diffusion?

(Rogers Five Factors)

Relative advantagethe degree to which a

product is better than the product it replaces

Compatibilitythe degree to which a product is
consistent with existing values and experiences
Complexitythe degree to which a product is
difficult to understand and use
Trialabilitythe degree to which a product may be
experimented with on a limited basis
Observabilitythe degree to which product usage
and impact are visible to others

Rogers 5 Factors WAE

Using Rogers 5 factors, pick a recent

innovation to the marketplace (other
than an Apple product) and discuss the
innovations success or failure based
upon these factors (like the telephone
example).

Crossing the Chasm

Crossing the
Chasm, Chapter
1, High-Tech
Marketing
Illusion, pp. 9 25. (Course pack
pp. 142-150)

Crossing the Chasm

What are the differences between

discontinuous and continuous
innovations?***

Differences in Adoption: The Chasm Model

Adoption of High Tech Products* Over Time

*Applicable only to Discontinuous Innovations

Crossing the Chasm

In your opinion, why do you think the

adoption life cycle has become so
prominent in marketing courses
today?***
How accurate is the Revised Technology
Adoption Life Cycle? Can you think of
specific products that have recently fallen
victim to one of the gaps?***

Made to Stick

Made to Stick, Introduction, What

Sticks? pp. 3-24 and Epilogue, What
Sticks, pp. 238-252. (Book)

Made to Stick

What is the curse of knowledge and

how does it hamper our ability to
effectively communicate ideas?***

How has the internet affected the Curse of

Knowledge?

Made to Stick WAE

Use Heath and Heaths stickiness

principles to convey an idea (preferably
one related to your field project).
Discuss why your approach could be
effective.

The Tipping Point

The Tipping Point, Chapter 1, The

Three Rules of Epidemics, pp. 15-29.
(Course pack pp. 151-158) TEAM

The Tipping Point

What does the author suggest are the

ways to tip an epidemic? Explain each
of his three agents of change***.

Law of the Few

The Stickiness Factor
The Power of Context

The Tipping Point:

Law of the Few

What is the 80/20 rule and how does it

relate to the Law of the Few?***

Can The Law of the Few explain our

fascination with celebrity endorsements?

The Tipping Point:

The Stickiness Factor

Are there negative effects of

Stickiness? If so, what?***

The Tipping Point

How are social epidemics like epidemics

of disease?***
What are some implications for
marketers?

Revisit Key Questions

What is an innovation?

What makes innovations/new ideas spread?

How do innovations diffuse in the marketplace?

What are different type of innovations and innovation

adopters?