(Comm 89) reading: Diffusion of Innovation Theory (Rice)

What could agenda setting research be conceptualized as?

A special case of the study of news diffusion, as it analyzes how social issues that become part of the mass media agenda, through frequent and highlighted coverage, in turn, are raised higher on the public's agenda.

Describe the innovation development process.

Actors ranging from individual entrepreneurs and collaborative users through government agencies and corporations attempt to identify needs and/or problems, conduct research on the ways to solve those problems, develop the innovation, and commercialize or otherwise promote it.

Compare adoption and diffusion.

Adoption is an individual or organizational action (emphasizing the adopter's perspective), while diffusion is the spread over time of the innovation (emphasizing the supplier's market's and society's perspective).

What is an organization in the DOI model?

Broadly meaning any collectivity of people, including departments, organizations, communities, states, etc.

How can diffusion be negative?

(1) The unintended consequences of some media campaigns (ex. boomerang effect). Diffusion can backfire, spreading to quickly for a social system to a data, creating disequilibrium and dysfunctional feedback loops (especially in complex technological and biological systems)

What causes mediamorphosis?

(1) competition (e.g. between radio and tv) (2) New opportunities and needs fostered by other innovations (3) regulation and technical standards (4) economic factors

A particularly intriguing aspect of this theory relevant to media effects is that a medium _________?

Can be a channel for communication about an innovation, but also an innovation itself.

All components of the diffusion model are potentially influenced by _________?

Communication activities, from mass, digital, and local media, to interpersonal and change agent interactions.

Diffusion

Diffusion is the process through which an innovation (an idea, product, technology, process, or service) spreads (more or less rapidly, in more or less the same form) through mass and digital media, interpersonal and network communication, over time, through a social system, with a wide variety of consequences.

What can diffusion of a technology throughout an industry cause?

Diffusion of technology throughout an industry can change organizational and industry perceptions of the innovation through increased knowledge of the technology, applications, benefits, and reduced risk, as well as develop positive network externalities of supporting innovations and likelihood of adoption by other organizations.

Individual demographic and access factors capture most of the factors representing the ______?

Digital divide in the United States. (Not the same for adoption patterns for the internet and mobile phones).

Social system conditions include _______?

Economics, network cooperation, power relations, governmental policies, competition/cooperation, and standardization.

The adoption and diffusion of media itself has significant economic consequences, both as ________?

Factors affecting the adoption (the technology and service) and as outcomes, such as increased distribution of information about production and purchasing of goods and services.

How do firms have to cross the chasm from an early market to a mainstream market?

Firms must cross the chasm from an early market dominated by a few visionary customers (innovators and early adopters) who are interested in the sophisticated technology features of early adoption to a mainstream market dominated largely by pragmatists and conservatives who look for value, maintenance of ongoing practices, and ongoing vendor support.

What are the phases must individuals and organizations go through to reduce their uncertainty about an innovation before making the decision and then integrating the innovation into regular use?

For individuals, these phases include knowledge/awareness, persuasion decision, implementation, and confirmation. For organizations they include agenda setting, matching, redefining, clarifying, and routinization. The first three individual phases and first two organizational phases are more generally considered initiation processes, whereas the latter individual and organizational phases are considered implementation processes. These phases are not necessarily sequential, as experiences and decisions in one phase may require returning to an earlier phase.

In the media industry, because digital information can be easily distributed, repackaged, and cross-promoted, organizational characteristics, such as vertical and horizontal integration can both _______?

Foster innovation (Multiplatform programming) and stifle it (excessive copyrights, suppressed independent production).

What is Cooper's (1998) criticism of DOI theory?

He emphasized the need to consider multiple dimensions of innovations, each of which may be associated with somewhat different influences and adoption processes.

When innovators and those who may have more resources or can obtain early benefits adopt an innovation, then those with higher ________ will be more open to adoption.

Higher network adoption thresholds.

What does Bounded normative influence explain?

How a minority, through network centrality, persuasiveness, consistency, confidence, commitment, and difficulty of expelling deviants, may succeed in establishing their norm as a majority norm, especially if the majority is not well articulated, is ambiguous, misperceives the situation, or has low commitment.

Without proactive policies and diffusion strategies, innovations in general tend to _______ socioeconomic inequalities?

Increase

The innovations diffusion through the social system generates various ____________ consequences.

Individual and social

Innovativeness is positively related to other individual characteristics such as SES and to _________ and has to been shown to moderate the relationship between ________?

Innovativeness is positively related to other individual characteristics such as SES and to earlier adoption and has to been shown to moderate the relationship between perceived innovation attributes and adoption

Describe the distinction between innovators and imitators.

Innovators are those who make their decision to adopt independently based on their innovativeness and awareness of the innovation through media. Imitators are those influenced by the nature and timing of others adoption. This distinction is the basis for the Bass diffusion model.

What are the different adoption categories?

Innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.

The rapid penetration model (diffusion curve)

It identifies the likely percentage of total adopters from the population over time and the percentage of remaining adopters likely to adopt in each time period, leading to the ceiling adoption level.

The contagion like or Bass diffusion model (diffusion curve)

It takes into account the separate influences of media and of prior adopters on nonadopters.

What other individual factors can influence adoption?

Media use (though research is not consistent), technology ownership/experience/expertise demographics (age), personality (such as dogmatism), obstacles to innovation (access), needs and expected gratifications (entertainment), contexts, social influences, technical, communication competence, user attitudes, etc

Weak ties ---infrequent communication with those who are not close----- provide exposure to _______?

New ideas and information

Do radical innovations always lead to large changes in the product usage experience for consumers?

No

At risk audiences may well adopt knowledge and attitudes promoted by a communication campaign, but _________?

Not alter their practices

During these processes, potential adaptor develop perceptions of the innovation characteristics, which are influenced by?

Peers, change agents, mass media portrayals, social norms, the kinds of innovation information needed, initial experiences, and, in some cases, the adoption by others.

What are potential adaptors?

Potential adaptors may be individuals, groups, communities, organizations, governments, and so on, and may be affectedly higher-level prior adoption decisions.

Why is Interpersonal communication particularly important in reducing uncertainty about an innovation?

Potential adopters turn to similar, trusted, or close --- that is-- homophilous--- others for insights, interpretations, attitudes, and experiences, especially during the persuasion and decision making phases.

Rogers (2003) noted several biases in DOI theory including ______?

Pro-innovation and the individual blame biases.

What might adoption involve?

Purchase, usage, acceptance, resistance, discontinuance, avoidance, or reinvention/adaptation.

What are the primary innovation characteristics

Relative advantage, complexity, trainability, compatibility, and observability/communicability.

What is innovativeness conceptualized as?

Relative earliness in adopting an innovation and being receptive to new ideas independent of others' influence and can be categorized in two types: inherent innovativeness (tendencies or drives) and actualized innovativeness (behaviors).

Change agent

Represents the organization or agency sponsoring the innovation and who works with opinion leaders and other clients to develop an understanding of the costs and benefits of the innovation.

Rogers (2003) recommends greater attention to how the social system fosters and constrains both _______?

Rogers (2003) recommends greater attention to how the social system fosters and constrains both the initial development of innovations and their form and features before adopters even become aware of the innovation.

Gabriel Tarde argued that what he called "imitation" was the basic source of ________

Social change

Diffusion is the cumulative number of adaptors over time, and may be represented through different visual curves and statistical models, taking into account factors such as ________?

Supplier marketing, environmental influences, market capacity, competition and so on

What is an innovative organizational culture characterized by?

The ability to manage its environments, a proactive support of appropriate human activity, pragmatic assessments of truth, medium-length time horizons, an assumption that people are generally good and capable of improvement, a positive view of individualism and diversity, support for participation appropriate to the type of innovation, and diverse but connected subcultures.

Reinvention (form of adaption)

The adaptation of an innovation after adoption which includes the development of new features and applications of the initial innovation.

What influences one's adoption category?

The characteristics and social contexts of the potential adopters, the stage and outcomes of the ignition and implementation processes, and the perceived innovation characteristics.

What role does mass media play in diffusing new ideas throughout a social system?

The mass media plays a central role in diffusing new ideas throughout a social system, especially in generating awareness of the innovation and providing information for opinion leaders to filter and discuss with their social system members.

metacontroi

The negotiation of the shaping of user control options.

One's location in a social system's communication network strongly affects what?

The speed and extent of information/adoption diffusion.

What are Communication campaigns?

The study and implementation of programs intended to change knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors at both the individual and social level through well-designed and evaluated communication-bases interventions or communication campaigns. This research field overlaps with DOI in that campaign goals include diffusing information and practices throughout a social system over time, through mass, interpersonal, and social network communication.

The importance of interpersonal communication networks in combination with targeted media messages on DOI has been popularized through concepts such as _____?

The tipping point and the new product "buzz".

Mediamorphisis

The transformation of communication media, usually brought about by the complex interplay of perceived needs, competitive and political pressures, and social and technological innovations

Potential adopters must go through an innovation-decision process. What are the two stages?

The two stages of the innovation-decision phase are the ignition stage then the implementation subprocesses.

The gradual penetration diffusion model (diffusion curve)

The typical S curve (Central to DOI theory), with a normal distribution of adopters in each time period, using the standard adopter categories, with an initial adoption rate, a rapid take up portion, and a leveling off to the maximum adoption percentage.

Bridges of familiarity (another innovation attribute)

These include links to the past, whereby new media initially incorporate (and may be limited by) both technological and social forms from prior media, though these then are elaborated, transformed, and replaced over time. Bridges of familiarity also include metaphors, whereby both media messages and design elements provide ways of understanding and contextualizing new media characteristics such as computer desktops or early tv programs replicating radio shows.

Von Hippel's lead users

They contribute to product concept and design and foreshadow the needs of the general marketplace, and thus are especially relevant during the innovation development process.

What do the most recent challenges to DOI theory argue?

They focus on the need to broaden the scope of diffusion research to consider all the factors leading up to public access to the innovation, and involving relevant communities in any diffusion efforts.

S-shaped diffusion curve

To the extent that the adoption times are normally distributed (The basis for the five adopter categories), the cumulative number of adopters over time is the well known S-shaped diffusion curve.

(T/F) Reinventions can pose considerable challenge to the traditional adoption/diffusion model of a dichotomous adoption of a fixed innovation.

True

(T/F) The traditional DOI theory largely focuses on predicting adoption by individuals or organizations, rather than diffusion per se.

True

What underlies the components of the diffusion process is the extent to which _____________?

Underlying the components of the diffusion process is the extent to which various actions, perceptions, communication processes and sources, and social norms and structures sufficiently reduce the potential adopter's uncertainty regarding the innovation. Media and interpersonal communication and the wider social system may become aware of an innovation through mass or digital

what highly constrains what kinds of innovation are available and to whom?

Unequal social structures, regulatory policies, and industry trends

The concept of adoption is more complex than a simple binary _______?

Use/no use

With respect to DOI media (mass and digital) are unique in that they may be __________ as well as _____________?

With respect to DOI media (mass and digital) are unique in that they may be channels for information and influence about an innovation, as well as innovations to be diffused and communicated about and in some cases both in one study.

Is Diffusions of Innovations theory the most cited, summarized, and applied of all communication theories?

Yes

Is a social systems opinion leaders and the extent to which potential adopters communicate with them a major influence on normative acceptance of an innovation?

Yes

The diffusion of news was a central and early focus of mass media and communication-oriented diffusion research. Is it still a central topic of media effects research?

Yes

Do organizations often have to adopt an innovation before individual members have the possibility?

Yes. In many cases, organizations must adopt an innovation (which may include technical standards or underlying infrastructure) before individual members have the possibility.

George Simmel emphasized social influence on innovation through the role of the "stranger" who brings new ideas into _____?

a social system, heterophily, cosmopoliteness, and social networks.

The characteristics of and influences on these potential adopters affect their ________?

adoption perceptions and behaviors.

How can one become aware of an innovation?

an individual in a social system becomes aware of an innovation through mass or digital media and individually chooses to adopt it, or may be persuaded through interpersonal communication by influential peers.

Economic aspects of media structures (such as concentration of media outlets and ownership by non media corporations) affect the __________?

diffusion of information about the media itself and its content (such as controversial topics, critiques of the media organization or its owners, or new reporting resources).

The implementation and diffusion literature provides many frameworks for identifying and evaluating the _____?

direct/indirect, short-term/long-term, intended/unintended, and positive/negative social consequences of innovation adoption.

A pragmatic extension to the traditional adopter categories is the concept of a chasm between early and later adopters, relevant for _____?

for discontinuous innovations.

It quickly became clear that given their ability to overcome the traditional communication and mass media barriers of time and location via asynchronous sending and receiving, Internet and mobile communication allow for ______? What did this expand?

message tailoring, two-way interaction, searching, and sharing of knowledge among unknown others, greatly expanding the opportunities for the diffusions for the diffusion of new ideas.

What new adopter groups did Lin (1998) create?

nonadopter, likely adopter, and adopter groups

Frequent social or physical exposure to salient others is crucial to _______?

reducing uncertainty about the innovation, fostering supportive social norms, and persuading potential adaptors?

What are some examples of organizational characteristics that influence innovation adoption?

size, formality, complexity, centralization, and slack resources.

Technology champion in organizational contexts

the technology champion in organizational contexts plays a significant interpersonal role in influencing the adoption of new organizational media.

What constitutes the rate of diffusion of the innovation throughout the social system

the timing and form of adoption

The initiation and implementation processes, the innovation characteristics, and ones adoption category all influence the _________?

timing, extent, and form of adoption.

Historical analyses of technological innovations clearly reveal ______________?

wide range of prior developments of prior developments, path dependencies, and actor networks fostering or constraining an innovation.

Network influences also provide explanations for how initial minority views about innovates generate ________

widespread diffusion.