What made you decide to finally

step out of line?

Fall 2007
Diffusion of Innovation
 Today…
 Introduce the Diffusion of Innovations
Theory

Fall 2007
 Widespread Assumption…

Effective innovations will be adopted

But…

This is often not the case

Fall 2007
 Purpose of Diffusion of
Innovation Theory

Innovation Development



Innovation Adoption

Fall 2007
 History of Diffusion Models
 Has been around for over 60 years
 Introduced by Ryan & Gross
 Codified by Everett Rogers
 Applications with US Agriculture
 Transferred to Public Health & other
fields

Fall 2007
 History:
Hybrid Seed Corn Study
 Ryan – Sociologist from Harvard,
 Joined Iowa State Univ. faculty
 Interested in non-economic factors in farmers
economic decisions

 What influenced farmers’ use of hybrid corn

seeds?

Fall 2007
 History:
Hybrid Seed Corn Study

 Hybrid corn
 Increased crop yields by 20%
 Reduced need for so many
farmers
 Able to withstand draught

Fall 2007
 History:
Hybrid Seed Corn Study
Did farmers quickly adopt hybrid corn?
 No!
 Took 13 years for adoption
 Avg. 7 years/farmer from 1st planting to 100%
planting

 What was going on?

 How were farmers getting their information?
 Which channels of information were most
influential?
 Hybrid seeds involved new “risky” process
 Usually use best ears of own crops
 Now, had to buy new seeds

Fall 2007
 History:
Hybrid Seed Corn Study
Interviews with 250 farmers –
asked:
 When decided to use hybrid
seeds

 Communication sources

 How much of corn acreage

planted with hybrid each year
after 1st trial

 Education, age, farm size,

income, travel to capital (Des
Moines), reading farm mags…
Fall 2007
 History:
Hybrid Seed Corn Study
Found
 Rate of adoption was S-shaped curve

Fall 2007
 History:
Hybrid Seed Corn Study
 Early Adopters
 Larger farms
 Higher incomes
 More education
 More trips to capital

 Communication between farmers

(about the corn) was important
 Farmers shared personal experiences
 Gave meaning to the innovation
Fall 2007
 History:
Roger’s Work with Diffusion
 Noticed many studies about diffusion
 Diverse innovations, settings, & target groups
 kindergarten education, driver training programs,
antibiotic drug use among Drs.

 Similar findings
 S-shaped rate of adoption
 Different communication channels used at
different stages of adoption
 Early innovators were more likely to be travelers
& well-read

 This was becoming a general theory

Fall 2007
 History:
Roger’s Work with Diffusion
Diffusion of Innovation theory has been
applied across cultures, geography, &
disciplines:
 Civil defense – Household bomb shelters
 Education – School programming
 Political Sciences – City smoking ordinances
 Anthropology – New technologies & cultures
 Marketing – New consumer products
 Business – Innovations in corporations
 Public Health – Family planning programs
 Even diffusion of this theory
Fall 2007
 Diffusion of Innovation Theory
 Provides an explanation of how new
ideas, products & social practices
diffuse or spread within a society or
from one society to another

Fall 2007
 Diffusion
 “The process by which an innovation is
communicated through certain
channels over time among the
members of a social system”

 The aim is to maximize the exposure

& reach of innovations, strategies &
programs

Fall 2007
 4 elements of Diffusion
 Innovation

 Communication Channel

 Time

 Social System

Fall 2007
 Social Systems Have…
 Communication Structure

 Norms

 Opinion Leaders

 Change Agents

Fall 2007
 5 Stages of Diffusion
 Innovation Development
 Dissemination
 Adoption
 Implementation
 Maintenance

Fall 2007
 Stage 1:
Innovation Development
 All early stage decisions & activities
through development & production

 Members of potential user group

should be part of development to
make sure it fits needs

Fall 2007
 Characteristics of Innovations
Determine rate of adoption or diffusion…
 Relative Advantage

 Compatibility

 Complexity
Fall 2007
 Characteristics of Innovations
Determine rate of adoption or diffusion…
 Triability

 Observability

 Impact on Social Relations

Fall 2007
 Characteristics of Innovations
Determine rate of adoption or diffusion…
 Reversibility

 Communicability

 Time Required
Fall 2007
 Characteristics of Innovations
Determine rate of adoption or diffusion…
 Risk & Uncertainty Level

 Commitment Required

 Modifiability
Fall 2007
 According to Rogers…
 The most important factors in

explaining rates of adoption include:

 Relative advantage
 Compatibility
 Triability
 Observability

Fall 2007
 Stage 2: Dissemination
 An active approach for knowledge
transfer from the producer to the
user

 Need to identify formal & informal

communication channels

Fall 2007
 Stage 3: Adoption
 Uptake of program by target
audience

 Involves targeting potential users &

identifying relevant subgroups & their
characteristics

Fall 2007
 Stages of Innovation-Decision
Process
 Knowledge of Innovation

 Persuasion or Attitude Development

 Decision

 Implementation

 Confirmation
Fall 2007
 Innovativeness
 Degree to which individual/group is
relatively early in adopting new ideas

 5 categories of (innovativeness)
adopters

Fall 2007
 5 Categories of
Innovativeness (Adopters)
1. Innovators

2. Early Adopters

3. Early Majority

4. Late Majority

5. Laggards
Fall 2007
 Rate of Adoption
 Relative speed innovation is adopted by a
certain % of members in social system

 S-Curve

Time from dissemination to adoption can be

measured in 3 ways
 Time from 1st awareness of innovation to adoption
 Time until program is adopted – in comparison to others
 The # of people who adopt it innovation within a timeframe

Fall 2007
 Stage 4: Implementation
 Initial use of innovation in practice

 Focus is on improving skills & self-

efficacy of users

Fall 2007
 Stage 5: Maintenance
 Ongoing implementation & use of
innovation

Fall 2007
 Application of 5 Stages of
Diffusion
1. Innovation Development
 Curriculum is developed for/with teachers
2. Dissemination
 School learns about new curriculum
3. Adoption
 School adopts curriculum, Teachers are trained
4. Implementation
 Teachers use curriculum, modify to meet needs
5. Maintenance
 Schools continue to offer curriculum
Fall 2007
 Theory is Weakened/Limited by
 Turbulence within target audience
environment

 Complicated innovations

 Innovations that seek to replace

socially embedded – well established
norms

Fall 2007
 Things we may not know…
 If key factors are specific to
particular setting/population
(generalizability)

 Environmental factors facilitate or

inhibit diffusion

Fall 2007
 Strengths & Utility of Theory
 Makes us understand that adoption is only
one step of process – also includes:
 Pre-adoption - Innovation development
 Post-adoption – Implementation & Maintenance

 Shifts our focus from:

Innovation

Innovation’s fit with the user

Fall 2007
 Strengths & Utility of Theory
Makes us PLAN for diffusion
 Conduct needs assessment - asking
 “What do you need?”
 “How can you be involved?”
 “From whom/where do you gain information?”
 “What are barriers/facilitators to adopting
innovations?”

 Allow for modification of innovation to fit

needs as they change

Fall 2007
 Strengths & Utility of Theory
Consider best channels of communication
 For different populations, levels of innovativeness

 Early adopters
 Provide information through multiple-modes

 Majority adopters
 Provide motivation & role models to enhance adoption

 Late adopters
 Focus on ways to overcome barriers to adoption

Fall 2007
 Evaluation
 Can be difficult & complicated

May focus on…

 Time from 1st awareness to adoption
 Relative earliness/lateness of adoption
 # of people adopting

 Did the innovation become institutionalized?

 Continued use after specific time period

Fall 2007
 Are you still standing in line?

Fall 2007