Diffusion of innovations

About: Diffusion of innovations is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2139 publications have been published within this topic receiving 191397 citations. The topic is also known as: diffusion of innovation & diffusion of innovations theory.

Understanding Indigenous Innovation in Rural West Africa: Challenges to Diffusion of Innovations Theory and Current Social Innovation Practice

Abstract: Most social innovation (SI) work done in developing countries is carried out through development agencies that focus on initiating innovations and processes, and establishing institutions that cultivate a change-oriented mindset. I offer a general critique of that approach and I link that critique with my observations from 15 years living and working among rural indigenous people in West Africa. I suggest that, not only do much of the SI processes fail to show respect for the creativity and intelligence of indigenous people, they tend to come packaged with exogenous participatory processes, encourage scaling-up, and ignore innovation that is already occurring. These arguments set the stage for an examination of a system of innovation that I discovered operating in a Hausa village in Niger. This system not only challenges the most important theory explaining the adoption and spread of ideas, the diffusion of innovations, it also demonstrates how indigenous people in one of the poorest countries on ...

Innovation, technology, and the economy

Abstract: Innovation, Technology and the Economy brings together the seminal articles and papers of Edwin Mansfield who during the past forty years has pioneered research in the economics of technical change, a field of enormous importance for analysts and decision makers. This collection presents an unusually full and detailed quantitative analysis based largely on data collected from firms and other economics units. These attractive volumes, which include some of the most frequently cited studies in the field, are concerned with the process of industrial innovation, the nature, composition and effects of industrial research and development, the relationships between technical change, economic growth and inflation, the diffusion of innovations, international technology transfer, public policy toward civilian technology, and intellectual property protection. These topics are central to many current debates among both economic theorists and policy makers.

Diffusion of innovations in social interaction systems. An agent-based model for the introduction of new drugs in markets.

Abstract: The existence of imitative behavior among consumers is a well-known phenomenon in the field of Economics. This behavior is especially common in markets determined by a high degree of innovation, asymmetric information and/or price-inelastic demand, features that exist in the pharmaceutical market. This paper presents evidence of the existence of imitative behavior among primary care physicians in Galicia (Spain) when choosing treatments for their patients. From this and other evidence, we propose a dynamic model for determining the entry of new drugs into the market. To do this, we introduce the structure of the organization of primary health care centers and the presence of groups of doctors who are specially interrelated, as well as the existence of commercial pressure on doctors. For modeling purposes, physicians are treated as spins connected in an exponentially distributed complex network of the Watts-Strogatz type. The proposed model provides an explanation for the differences observed in the patterns of the introduction of technological innovations in different regions. The main cause of these differences is the different structure of relationships among consumers, where the existence of small groups that show a higher degree of coordination over the average is particularly influential. The evidence presented, together with the proposed model, might be useful for the design of optimal strategies for the introduction of new drugs, as well as for planning policies to manage pharmaceutical expenditure.

The adoption and use of WeChat among middle-aged residents in urban China

Abstract: This study explores the adoption and use of WeChat, the most popular mobile instant messaging (MIM) platform in China, among middle-aged residents in urban China. Previous technology diffusion studies have paid little attention to this demographic. Based on diffusion of innovations and uses and gratifications theory, the study aims to identify the predictors of adoption and use of WeChat by middle-aged individuals. Data were collected in Xiamen from a sample of 300 tourists aged from 36 to 60 years. The results showed that the perceived relative advantages of WeChat significantly predicted its adoption by the middle-aged users in the sample. However, the effects in predicting usage were limited when the perceived need for WeChat were taken into account. In addition, the results indicated that demographic variables (i.e., age, gender, and income) and personal innovativeness were significant predictors of the adoption and use of WeChat among middle-aged individuals.

The contribution of online news consumption to critical-reflective journalism professionals Likelihood patterns among Greek journalism students

Abstract: Evidence suggests that the internet is the medium with the most success in attracting young people to news, while traditional media have been facing increasing trouble since the 1980s. The emergence of cynical and sceptical attitudes about politics and the media has resulted in most young people becoming `news grazers' instead of regular news consumers. Journalism students, however, should be exposed to political information not only as part of their civic obligation, but also in order to be fully equipped to make essential contributions as future analysts and brokers of news. By proposing a conceptual approach on how online news consumption contributes to critical reflective journalism, and drawing upon informed citizenry theory, the knowledge gap hypothesis, the diffusion of innovations model and the uses and gratification perspective, this article attempts to investigate the determinants and consumption patterns of online news by journalists-to-be in Greece. It is argued that conventional predictors su...