INNOVATION DIFFUSION

PROCESS

SUCHETA ARORA
 CONFIRMATIO
IMPLEMENTATI N
ON
DECISION

Adoption Continued
Rejection Adoption
PERSUASION Late Adoption
Relative
Discontinuanc
Advantage
e
Compatibi
Continued
lity
KNOWLEDGE Rejection
Socio- Complexit
economic
Characteristic y
s Trialability
Personality
variables Obsevabili
Communicati ty
on Behaviour
 KNOWELEDGE

• commences when an individual is exposed to

an innovation’s existence and gains an
understanding of how it functions.
 Needs or Awareness Of Innovation?

• Individual tend to expose themselves to ideas

that are in accordance with their interests,
needs, and existing attitudes.
• Selective Exposure : the tendency to attend to
communication messages that are consistent
with the individuals existing attitudes and
beliefs.
contd.

• Individuals seldom expose themselves to

messages about an innovation unless they first
feel a need for the innovation.
Hassinger (1959)
• Innovations can lead to needs, as well as vice
versa.
 Types of Knowledge

• AWARENESS KNOWLEDGE

• HOW TO KNOWLEDGE

• PRINCIPLES KNOWLEDGE
Early versus Late Knowers of Innovation

• have more education,

• have higher social status,
• have more exposure to mass media channels of
communication,
• have more exposure to interpersonal channels,
• have more contact with change agents,
• have more social participation, &
• are more cosmopolite.
 PERSUASION
• The individual forms a favourable or
unfavourable attitude towards the innovation.
• Mental activity at knowledge stage is
cognitive.
• At persuasion stage is affective.
• Individual is more psychologically involved
with the innovation.
contd.

• Selective perception is important in

determining the individual’s behaviour.
• Selective Perception : tendency to interpret
communication messages in terms of the
individual’s existing attitudes and beliefs.
contd.
• Perceived attributes of an innovation are
important at this stage.
• All innovations carry some degree of
uncertainty for an individual.
• Individual seeks innovation evaluation
information i.e. advantages and
disadvantages.
contd.

• Main outcome of this stage is a favourable or

unfavourable attitude towards the innovation.
• Attitude- use discrepancy aka KAP (knowledge
attitudes practice)gap.
contd.
• Preventive Innovation: new idea that an
individual adopts in order to avoid the
possible occurrence of some unwanted event
in future.
• The persuasion-adoption discrepancy for
preventive innovation can be sometimes
closed by cue to action.
 DECISION
• Occurs when an individual engages in
activities that lead to adopt or reject an
innovation.
• Adoption
• Rejection
• Small scale trial
• Demonstration
contd.
• Rejection
– Active Rejection
– Passive Rejection aka non adoption

• Process can be KDP or KD at times.

 IMPLEMENTATION
• Occurs when an individual puts an innovation
to use.
• Up till now the process has been mental.
• Implementation involves overt behaviour
change.
• Certain degree of uncertainty about the
expected consequences of the innovation still
exists.
contd.
• This stage may continue for a lengthy period
of time depending on the nature of
innovation.
• A point is reached at which the new idea
becomes institutionalized as a regularized part
of an adopters ongoing operations.
 Re-invention
• The degree to which an innovation is changed
or modified by a user in the process of its
adoption and implementation.
• Re-invention occurs at the implementation
stage for many innovations and for many
adopters.
• A higher degree of re-invention leads to a
faster rate of adoption of an innovation.
contd.

• A higher degree of re-invention leads to a

higher degree of sustainability of an
innovation.
 Why Does Re-invention Occur?
• more complex and difficult to understand
• lack of detailed information
• concept or a tool with many possible
applications
• implemented to solve a wide range of
problems
• Local pride of ownership of innovation
– Pseudo re-invention
contd.

• change agency influence

• to adapt to the structure of the organization
• More frequent in later diffusion process
 CONFIRMATION
• Individual seeks reinforcement for the
innovation decision already made.
• Dissonance
– Knowledge
– KAP gap
– Discontinuance or late adoption
• Discontinuance : decision to reject an
innovation after having previously adopted it.
contd.

• Discontinuance
– Replacement
– Disenchantment
 Are there stages in
Innovation decision process?
contd.
• Difficult to probe intrapersonal mental process
• Simplifying complex reality
• Process research versus variance research
• Iowa study : Beal and Rogers, 1960
• None reported skipping knowledge or decision
stages.
• Prochaska’s Stages of change
Precontemplation

Contemplation
Maintenance
Preparation Action
CONFIRMATIO
IMPLEMENTATI N
ON
DECISION

Adoption Continued
Rejection Adoption
PERSUASION Late Adoption
Relative
Discontinuanc
Advantage
e
Compatibi
Continued
lity
KNOWLEDGE Rejection
Socio- Complexit
economic
Characteristic y
s Trialability
Personality
variables Obsevabili
Communicati ty
on Behaviour
 Communication Channels
• Mass media channels are relatively more
important at the knowledge stage and
interpersonal channels are relatively more
important at the persuasion stage.
• Cosmopolite more important at knowledge
while localite at persuasion stage.
• Mass media relativel more important for early
adopter.
 Innovation Diffusion Period
• Length of time required by individual to pass
through the I-D process.
• Less for early adopters and more for late
adopters.
THANK YOU