5MR#24 : The diffusion of Innovations

In this groundbreaking book, the author describes the process in which an innovation comes to be adopted, whether an idea, a practice or an object, and identifies the five stages in the process: Knowledge, Persuasion, Decision, Implementation and Confirmation. The potential user’s path through these five stages essentially determines whether an innovation will succeed or fail. You’ll learn what happens in each of these stages and find valuable advice about how to increase the chances that your innovation will be adopted.

1) Knowledge Stage: In the Knowledge stage, an individual learns of the innovation’s existence. But what leads us to enter this stage? Is it that we have a specific, prior need for a particular technology? Or, is it simply that we have become aware of the innovation? Some people actively seek out a particular innovation, such as a specific technology, because they have a certain need for it in their lives. In this context, a need is a state of frustration or dissatisfaction which arises when an individual’s desires exceed the currently available resources. This need will drive that person – who has a specific problem and a desire to fix it – to ask around and seek a solution.

For example, imagine that you’re a farmer and that your crops are being destroyed by a particular pest. In such a case, you’ll likely actively seek out a pesticide to deal with that bug.

Other people, however, enter the Knowledge stage not because they were actively searching for a particular innovation but because they were made aware of the innovation’s existence. For instance, when the latest version of Apple’s iPhone is announced at a developer conference, many technology magazines will provide details of its release and new features. As a result, one of your friends – perhaps a tech expert, always on the lookout for new gadgets – will read one of those magazines and, knowing you’d be interested, tell you all about the new iPhone.

2) Persuasion Stage: In the Persuasion stage, an individual forms an attitude toward the innovation. After the Knowledge stage, you form a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the innovation. First, you either like the product or you don’t. If you do like it, you then have to research the product and find credible information about it. But the problem is, in the Persuasion stage, we’re always selective about the information we seek, to the extent that we might ignore information that challenges our initial feelings about the product.

For example, if you find a product you believe makes you look cool, you might choose to ignore a review that discusses how unreliable the product is. Following this, we then reconcile the attributes of the innovation with our own attitude toward it, and try to anticipate its future evolution. In other words, we balance our feelings about the product against aspects such as price, complexity and operation.

If we are still uncertain about the product, we try to anticipate its evolution. For example, if you purchase a new model of camera, you may feel uncertain as it’s impossible early on to know whether the camera will be used by other people, or even whether you are using it correctly.

To handle this uncertainty, we anticipate our future use of the camera and we consider how much it costs, how hard it is to use and how our friends will perceive it. Then, after doing your research and dealing with your uncertainties, if your attitude toward the product remains positive, you’ll most likely start using it.

3) Decision Stage: In the Decision stage, an individual chooses to adopt or reject an innovation. First, innovations that can be tried out before purchase are more likely to be adopted. And if they are found to have a relative advantage over other similar products – for instance, better functionality – they’ll be adopted more quickly.

For example, in 1930s Iowa, corn seed salesmen handed out bags of a new seed to farmers, enough to plant approximately one acre of corn. Because this new seed was proven to be superior to that which they currently used, the farmers were convinced to purchase it.

Second, rejection can happen actively or passively. In an active rejection, an individual has considered adopting the innovation and has possibly tried it out, yet decided to not adopt it. For example, a software developer considers switching to a new development kit to build his tools. However, after some testing, he finds the kit to be unsuitable for his needs and far too complex to use, so he actively decides to reject it.

Third, the decision to adopt a product is influenced mainly by cultural norms. People living in collectivist cultures – societies that value community and collective action over individual needs, such as China, Korea and Japan – are more likely to adopt an innovation if some members of their group have already adopted it.

4) Implementation Stage: In the Implementation stage, an individual begins using an innovation. Fundamentally, it involves a change in the user’s behavior. Because the new product has to be put to use physically, the individual must actively change their behavior, in that they must learn and apply the methods that correctly using the product necessitates. To implement an innovation, you have to obtain it, learn how to use it and find information about any potential difficulties or side effects. For example, a patient who begins taking a new drug to regulate high blood sugar must change her behavior – she cannot drink alcohol while taking the new drug, she must take it for several weeks before the drug will have any effect, and so on.

Interestingly enough, during the Implementation stage, many adopters “reinvent” the product or service by using it in ways not intended by its creators. For example, in the former GDR – the German Democratic Republic – some people used the WM66 washing machine to preserve fruit, because the machine could be heated without having to start a wash cycle.

5) Confirmation Stage: In the Confirmation stage, an individual may reverse his decision to adopt. After an individual has made a decision to adopt a certain innovation, he begins to seek assurance that he’s made the right decision. In other words, he’s entered the Confirmation stage.This stage is marked by internal dissonance in the individual – an uncomfortable state of mind that he wishes to diminish, and one which arises both before and after adopting a product.

Consider, for example, the early incarnations of Microsoft’s operating system, Windows. When Apple built its own operating system, which was easier to use, those people who switched from Windows to Mac probably experienced internal dissonance prior to switching, as they were dissatisfied with Windows.

To sustain positive feelings about their decision, adopters of a new product often will try to avoid experiencing this dissonance by filtering out any information which disconfirms their decision. (This is called selective exposure.) Instead, adopters seek positive affirmation of their decision: for example, sales data that suggests the increased popularity of Macs, positive product reviews and so on.

Innovators: Those with the right knowledge and resources lead the way in adopting new innovations – that’s why they’re called innovators. When it comes to people adopting and making use of an innovation, there are always some individuals ahead of everyone else. Why is that? One reason is that certain individuals are simply more innovative than others. For instance, innovators – the first to adopt a new product, idea or practice – make up just 2.5 percent of all adopters. They are people always on the lookout for new ideas, and part of a network of likeminded individuals from whom they receive news.

Take, for example, a person who loves watches – let’s call him John. John and his friends are so interested in watches that they participate in online forums and devour magazines dedicated to their obsession. John’s an innovator: he’s aware of the latest trends in watchmaking and knows which are the best new watches on the market.

But, like all innovators, John is in the minority. The remainder of adopters comprise Early Adopters (13.5 percent), the Early Majority (34 percent) and the Late Majority (34 percent). Those that adopt an innovation much later than the majority are called Laggards (16 percent). For example, when it comes to smartphones, elderly people are usually Laggards: those last to purchase and use such a device.

Adoption of Innovation: Below are some key factors I found can accelerate / decelerate the adoption for innovation -

1) An innovation’s relative advantage and compatibility drastically accelerate its rate of adoption.

2) The complexity of an innovation can be a major obstacle to its adoption.

3) Being able to test a product before buying it increases the likelihood that you’ll purchase it.

4) Innovations that can be observed in use, or communicated to others, are adopted more readily.

5) Change agents can develop a need for change and thus speed the adoption of an innovation.

6) People in a position of influence have a great impact on whether an individual adopts an innovation.

Conclusion: As customers / adopter / end users there are always five stages of the innovation decision process that every potential adopter of a new idea goes through: Knowledge, Persuasion, Decision, Implementation and Confirmation. Knowing this and validating the idea / innovation with it helps in gauging the direction it may pivot. Every innovation has certain attributes that influence its rate of adoption, such as relative advantage, complexity and trialability. Change agents should be client-focused and make use of opinion leaders to increase the rate of adoption of an innovation.

Thanks for your time , stay safe and take care !