Diffusion of Innovation Theory

by Rogers
 Rogers Theory Intro.
• Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory, developed
by E.M. Rogers in 1962, is one of the oldest
social science theories.
•It originated in communication to explain how,
over time, an idea or product gains momentum
and diffuses (or spreads) through a specific
population or social system.
•The end result of this diffusion is that people, as
part of a social system, adopt a new idea,
behavior, or product.  
Rogers Theory
 Innovators
• Technology enthusiasts
• Require the shortest adoption period
• Risk takers
• Understand and apply complex technical
knowledge to cope with a high degree of
uncertainty
• Motivated by the idea of being a change agent
• Gatekeepers for the next group of adopters
• Recruit to be peer educators
 Early Adopters
• Visionaries
• Serve as the opinion leaders
• Have a natural desires to be trend setters
• Serve as role models within their social system
• Adventurous
• Not necessarily cost sensitive
• Provide excellent tester subjects to trial the
innovation
 Early Majority
• Pragmatics
• Interact frequently with peers, deliberate contact
• Also serve as opinion leaders but later in the
process
• Do not like complexity
• Avoid risk
• Prudent
• Make slow, steady progress, need simple user
friendly training
 Late Majority
• Conservatives
• Respond to peer pressure
• Respond to economic necessity
• Skeptical, cautious
• Often technologically shy
• Very cost sensitive
• Easily influenced by laggards
 Laggards
• Skeptics
• Isolated from opinion leaders
• Suspicious of innovations, innovation-
decision process is lengthy, resource limited
• Want to maintain status quo
• Think technology is a hindrance to operations
• Usually invest in technology when all other
alternatives worse
 Rate of Adoption
• Rate of adoption is the relative speed with
which an innovation is adopted by the
members of a social system.
• It forms an s-shaped curve.
• Most innovations have an s-shaped curve but it
varies from innovation to innovation.
• Some ideas diffuse quickly while others
diffuse slowly.
S-Curve of Adoption
 Rate of Adoption..
• Rate of adoption is measured by the length of
time to adopt a innovation.
• There are also differences in the rate of
adoption for the same innovation in different
social systems.
• Innovations that have a greater compatibility,
advantage have a more rapid rate of adoption.
 Triggers to the Diffusion of
Innovation/Adoption Process

• Relative advantage

• Compatibility
• Complexity
• Trialability
• Observability
 Relative advantage
• The relative advantage may lie in terms of it
being a modified product (with better
features, attributes, benefits, form etc)
• At a lower price (better deals, discounts,
terms of payment, warranty and exchange),
• More accessible in terms of availability
(physical store format, or virtual electronic
format), or better communication.
 Compatibility
• The compatibility of the innovative product and
service offering with the existing backgrounds,
behavior and lifestyle patterns of consumers
also affects its adoption by the consuming public.
• The compatibility of a product/service measures
how closely it relates to needs, value systems and
norms, lifestyles, culture etc.
• The higher the level of compatibility, the quicker
the diffusion; and the lower the compatibility, the
slower the diffusion.
 Complexity
• Technological complexity acts as a barrier to diffusion.
• People resist adoption of new products because of
fear of complexity in purchase and usage.
• This is well understood by high tech industries.
• Ex. Microwave owens or vacuum cleaners. While
designing their communication, the marketer illustrates
ease of use, so as to encourage quicker acceptance;
prospects are provided with demos and trials; once
purchased, arrangements are made for providing
installation at home.
 Trial ability
• Trial ability can be encouraged by providing free
samples, or providing smaller packs and smaller-
than-average sizes, (for FMCG and household
goods) or even through demos and test runs (for
consumer durables).
• Consumers could try out the innovative offering,
evaluate it and then decide on a purchase
commitment by accepting/rejecting it.
• Trials leading to purchase can be encouraged
through guaranty and warranty schemes. Such trials
encourage a product/service to be diffused easily.
 Observability
• Observability refers to the degree to which a
product/service’s benefits can be observed, imagined
and perceived by a potential consumer.
• The higher the degree of observability, the greater the
chances of the innovative offering being accepted by
the prospects.
• Those new product offerings that are i) tangible, ii)
have social visibility, and iii) whose benefits are readily
observed (without much time gap), are more readily
diffused than those that are intangible, or have no social
visibility or whose benefits accumulate over long
periods of time.