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The Diffusion of Innovations

TL;DR: Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system by concerned with the spread of messages that are perceived as new ideal.
Abstract: Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. Diffusion is a special type of communication concerned with the spread of messages that are perceived as new ideal. Communication is a process in which participants create and share information with one another in order to reach a mutual understanding. Diffusion has a special character because of the newness of the idea in the message content. Thus some degree of uncertainty and perceived risk is involved in the diffusion process. An individual can reduce this degree of uncertainty by obtaining information. Information is a difference in matter energy that affects uncertainty in a situation where a choice exists among a set of alternatives.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Upon returning to the U.S., author Singhal’s Google search revealed the following: in January 2001, the impeachment trial against President Estrada was halted by senators who supported him and the government fell without a shot being fired.

23,419 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a typology of four transition pathways: transformation, reconfiguration, technological substitution, and de-alignment and re-alignments is presented, which differ in combinations of timing and nature of multi-level interactions.

3,926 citations


Cites background from "The Diffusion of Innovations"

  • ...The fourth indicator comes from diffusion research, which estimates that the diffusion curve may become self-sustaining and take off between 5 and 20% of cumulative adoption ( Rogers, 1996, p. 360 )....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Two studies that replicate previous work by Fred Davis on the subject of perceived usefulness, ease of use, and usage of information technology focus on evaluating the psychometric properties of the ease ofUse and usefulness scales, while examining the relationship between ease ofuse, usefulness, and system usage.
Abstract: This paper presents the findings of two studies that replicate previous work by Fred Davis on the subject of perceived usefulness, ease of use, and usage of information technology. The two studies focus on evaluating the psychometric properties of the ease of use and usefulness scales, while examining the relationship between ease of use, usefulness, and system usage. Study 1 provides a strong assessment of the convergent validity of the two scales by examining heterogeneous user groups dealing with heterogeneous implementations of messaging technology. In addition, because one might expect users to share similar perspectives about voice and electronic mail, the study also represents a strong test of discriminant validity. In this study a total of 118 respondents from 10 different organizations were surveyed for their attitudes toward two messaging technologies: voice and electronic mail.

3,127 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper investigated the diffusion and institutionalization of change in formal organization structure, using data on the adoption of civil service reform by cities and found that when civil service procedures are required by the state, they diffuse rapidly and directly from the state to each city.
Abstract: The authors are jointly responsible forthe theoretical argumentand analysis. M. Craig Brown suggested the topic of civil service reform. Maureen J. McConaghy, Nancy Brandon Tuma, Glenn R. Carroll, and P. Y Liu provided methodological advice, Sharon Stevens aided early computational work. Both of us are grateful to Phillip Bonacich for his advice throughout the research, and to Marshall W. Meyer, John W. Meyer, William G. Roy, Herman Turk, Richard A. Berk, David McFarland, Oscar Grusky, and Jeffrey Pfeffer fortheir helpful comments on an eariner draft. This paper investigates the diffusion and institutionalization of change in formal organization structure, using data on the adoption of civil service reform by cities. It is shown thatwhen civil service procedures are required bythe state, they diffuse rapidly and directly from the state to each city. When the procedures are not so legitimated, they diffuse gradually and the underlying sources of adoption change overtime. In the lattercase, early adoption of civil service by cities is related to internal organizational requirements, with city characteristics predicting adoption, while late adoption is related to institutional definitions of legitimate structural form, so that city characteristics no longer predict the adoption decision. Overall, the findings provide strong support for the argument that the adoption of a policy or program by an organization is importantly determined by the extent to which the measure is institutionalizedwhether by law or by gradual legitimation.

2,833 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an agent-based adaptive model is proposed to reveal the effects of a mechanism of convergent social influence, where actors are placed at fixed sites and the basic premise is that the more similar an actor is to a neighbor, the more likely that that actor will adopt one of the neighbor's traits.
Abstract: Despite tendencies toward convergence, differences between individuals and groups continue to exist in beliefs, attitudes, and behavior. An agent-based adaptive model reveals the effects of a mechanism of convergent social influence. The actors are placed at fixed sites. The basic premise is that the more similar an actor is to a neighbor, the more likely that that actor will adopt one of the neighbor's traits. Unlike previous models of social influence or cultural change that treat features one at a time, the proposed model takes into account the interaction between different features. The model illustrates how local convergence can generate global polarization. Simulations show that the number of stable homogeneous regions decreases with the number of features, increases with the number of alternative traits per feature, decreases with the range of interaction, and (most surprisingly) decreases when the geographic territory grows beyond a certain size. MAINTENANCE OF DIFFERENCES If people tend to become more alike in their beliefs, attitudes, and behavior when they interact, why do not all such differences eventually disappear? Social scientists have proposed many mechanisms to answer this question. The purpose of this article is to explore one more mechanism. The mechanism proposed here deals with how people do indeed become more similar as they interact, but also provides an explanation of why the tendency to converge stops before it reaches completion. It therefore provides a new type of explanation of why we do not all become alike. Because the proposed mechanism can exist alongside other mechanisms, it can be regarded as complementary with older explanations rather than necessarily competing with them. Unfortunately, no good term describes the range of things about which people can influence each other. Although beliefs, attitudes, and behavior cover a wide range indeed, there are still more things over which interpersonal influence extends, such as language, art, technical standards, and social norms. The most generic term for the

1,754 citations


Cites background from "The Diffusion of Innovations"

  • ...Groups actively differentiate themselves from each other (Simmel [1908] 1955)....

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References
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Book
01 Jan 1962
TL;DR: A history of diffusion research can be found in this paper, where the authors present a glossary of developments in the field of Diffusion research and discuss the consequences of these developments.
Abstract: Contents Preface CHAPTER 1. ELEMENTS OF DIFFUSION CHAPTER 2. A HISTORY OF DIFFUSION RESEARCH CHAPTER 3. CONTRIBUTIONS AND CRITICISMS OF DIFFUSION RESEARCH CHAPTER 4. THE GENERATION OF INNOVATIONS CHAPTER 5. THE INNOVATION-DECISION PROCESS CHAPTER 6. ATTRIBUTES OF INNOVATIONS AND THEIR RATE OF ADOPTION CHAPTER 7. INNOVATIVENESS AND ADOPTER CATEGORIES CHAPTER 8. DIFFUSION NETWORKS CHAPTER 9. THE CHANGE AGENT CHAPTER 10. INNOVATION IN ORGANIZATIONS CHAPTER 11. CONSEQUENCES OF INNOVATIONS Glossary Bibliography Name Index Subject Index

38,750 citations

Book
01 Jan 1967

22,994 citations

Journal ArticleDOI

18,643 citations


"The Diffusion of Innovations" refers background in this paper

  • ...In my first book on diffu- sion (ROGERS 1962,x), I stated, "This book suggests that students of diffusion have been working where the ground was soft . . ....

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Book
01 Jan 1949

13,688 citations

Book
01 Jan 1964
TL;DR: Lapham as discussed by the authors re-evaluated McLuhan's work in the light of the technological as well as the political and social changes that have occurred in the last part of this century.
Abstract: This reissue of Understanding Media marks the thirtieth anniversary (1964-1994) of Marshall McLuhan's classic expose on the state of the then emerging phenomenon of mass media. Terms and phrases such as "the global village" and "the medium is the message" are now part of the lexicon, and McLuhan's theories continue to challenge our sensibilities and our assumptions about how and what we communicate. There has been a notable resurgence of interest in McLuhan's work in the last few years, fueled by the recent and continuing conjunctions between the cable companies and the regional phone companies, the appearance of magazines such as WiRed, and the development of new media models and information ecologies, many of which were spawned from MIT's Media Lab. In effect, media now begs to be redefined. In a new introduction to this edition of Understanding Media, Harper's editor Lewis Lapham reevaluates McLuhan's work in the light of the technological as well as the political and social changes that have occurred in the last part of this century.

9,283 citations

Trending Questions (1)
2.Why do innovations ‘swarm’ in time?

The paper does not explicitly mention why innovations 'swarm' in time. The paper is about the diffusion of innovations and the process of communication in spreading new ideas.