According to Rogers (1996), diffusion refers to the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. An
Innovation is an idea, practice or object perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption. The diffusion of innovations involves both mass media and interpersonal communication
channels
(p. 409). That is, by sharing communication channels such as interpersonal communication or mass communication people can get information of an innovation and perceive its
innovation as useful. Lasswell (1948) presented a well-known model of communication that is analyzed as five parts, S-M-C-R-E (e.g., sender-message-channel-receiver-effect). Rogers (1995)
mentioned, this S-M-C-R-E communication model corresponds closely to the elements of diffusion
(p. 19). Specifically, (1) sender can be inventors or opinion leaders, (2)
message can be a new idea or product, (3) channels can be interpersonal or mass communication, (4) receivers can be members of a social system, and finally (5) the effects can be individual’s
adoption or social change. In the diffusion theory, ‘Time’ variable is a very important factor. According to Rogers (1995), time variable is involved in diffusion in (1) the innovation-decision
process; (2) innovativeness; (3) an innovation’s rate of adoption.
Most innovations have an S-shaped rate of adoption. Diffusion research has attempted to explain the variables that influence how and why users and audience adopt a new information medium, such as the Internet. According to evolution of media technology, interpersonal influences are important even though in the past the individual is usually the unit of analysis. Also, critical mass becomes an important factor in adopting new media because new media are interactive tools and thus are required by many users to gain efficiency. That is, the more people use, the more people get benefits. In this sense, diffusion theory not only can apply to practical things, but also can be related to digital divide.
There are five different types of adopters in the diffusion process, according to Innovativeness: (1) Innovators (venturesome), (2) Early Adopters (respectable), (3) Early Majority
(Deliberate), (4) Late Majority (skeptical), and (5) Laggards (traditional)” (Rogers, 1995, pp. 183-185). Rogers defined this term as “the degree to which an individual is relatively earlier in
adopting new ideas than other members of his social system
(Rogers, 1995, p. 40). Figure 1 (in www2.gsu.edu/~wwwitr/docs/diffusion/) shows the relationships between types of
adopters divided by innovativeness and their place on the adoption curve. Also, these categories follow a standard deviation curve which is bell-shaped.
Figure 2 (in www.mitsue.co.jp/english/case/concept/02.html) shows that an innovation would spread through society over various periods of time in a S-shaped curve. However, as noted above, different types of innovations (e.g., the rate of tetracycline adoption is faster than that of the hybrid seed corn) can have their own different rates in diffusion.
When it comes to the process of innovation-decisions, Rogers (1995) mentioned that there are five stages.
- Knowledge + or – (selective exposure or awareness of news)
- Attitudes + or – (people have positive or negative attitude toward innovations)
- Adoption (Decision): people decide to adopt the innovation
- Implementation (regular or standard practice)
- Confirmation (comparing and evaluating)
Rogers introduced perceived characteristics of innovations that consist of (1) relative advantage (2) compatibility (3) complexity (4) triability (5) observability. Based on these five criteria, individuals perceive an innovation as new or useful and decide to adopt it. For example, Rogers (1995) defined relative advantage as “the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes” (p.15).” New media such as the mp3 will displace conventional media such as CDs or tapes when people perceive new media as advantageous (e.g., low cost or means to be cool). When an individual decides to adopt new media or switch old media with new media, the perceived characteristics of innovations play an important role in reducing some uncertainty about the innovations.
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