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.

Fleeing to Babylon: How the Erie Canal, Diffusion, and Social Structure Forever Changed American Calvinism

Abstract: The following focuses on the Presbyterian Church in the early 19 th century United States and suggests that by historically examining its structural dynamics, historians and social scientists alike can better understand not only American religious history but also the diffusion process of intellectual innovation. ***** Understanding the process of diffusion has been the concern of many within the social science community. Most notably the late Everett Rogers is often credited with offering the best working theory of the subject in 1962 with his eminent Diffusion of Innovations. Since then the question of diffusion - and how social structure influences its proliferation - has proven to be an inter- disciplinary topic, uniting scholars from disciplines as different as Mathematics, Physics, and Organizational Theory (White 1963, 1997; Granovetter 1973; Watts & Strogatz 1998; Barabasi & Albert 1999; Krackhardt 2001) with those from Communication, Psychol- ogy, Sociology, and even History (Moreno 1934; Moreno & Jennings 1938; Rogers 1958, 1962; Travers & Milgram 1969, Tilly 1976; DiMaggio & Powell 1983; Richards 1991; Padgett & Ansell 1993; Gould 1995; Padgett & Powell, 2012). Similarly, this essay uses a variety of approaches to better under- stand the nature of intellectual diffusion in a 19 th century American context - specifically how the Presbyterian Church changed both doctrinally and socially between 1800 and 1830. Because this is principally a work of history, the author interrogates narratives from archival sources and primary accounts, yet much of the support for this paper is also based on understanding the sources quantitatively. Utilizing then a statistical method called Factor Analysis - as well as Social Network Analysis - the following attempts to illustrate how New England migration, the Erie Canal, and social organization influenced the transformation of Calvinism in the United States. 1 It argues that the "semiperipheral" segments of a social system are critically important to the diffusion of inno-

User Acceptance Affecting the Adoption of Enterprise Portals

Abstract: The implementation of enterprise portals has been cited as the most important business information project of the next decade (Collins, 1999; Daniel & Ward, 2005). However, introducing enterprise portals can cause resistance and confusion among users. Often, portals provide a completely new work environment based on new user interfaces structuring content, services, and applications in a very different manner (Kakamanu & Mezzacca, 2005; Shilakes & Tylman, 1998). In addition, enterprise portals often provide new functions and features that, at first, can overload the user. Although the development and introduction of enterprise portals is already considered as a complex and challenging task (De Carvalho, Ferreira, & Choo, 2005), the subsequent process of getting end-users to accept and adopt the portal in their daily work processes is even more challenging. Often, this is seen as the most crucial factor to making the portal solution a success (Aiken & Sullivan, 2002; Kakamanu & Mezzacca, 2005). Models and methods for measuring and increasing the acceptance of enterprise portals are expected to contribute significantly to a successful, efficient, and economic portal implementation. In the past, this led to a number of different portal acceptance models, each with certain advantages and weaknesses. Usually, the models focus on one or a few particular portal implementation projects, for example, a human-resource portal or a consumer portal. The broad range of different enterprise portal implementations, starting with extranet portals providing in-depth content and offering special advantages for business-to-business or e-commerce activities, up to intranet portals supporting internal communication and knowledge management, demands a highly flexible and adaptable framework supporting the systematic identification of individually important, measurable, and independent acceptance criteria. In this article, such a general purpose model, called the dynamic acceptance model for the reevaluation of technologies (DART), is presented. We start by reviewing existing portal acceptance models. Subsequently, we present the DART model and its application in one exemplary enterprise portal implementation. Finally, we summarize our key findings and outline further trends in portal acceptance research.

Study on the Attitude of Young People Towards Technology

Abstract: The attitude young people have when facing the challenge of technology can make the difference between being able to cope safely in this society or being relegated to a marginal position. The aim of this research is to know which is that attitude in a group of university studentes. To this end, we have proposed a survey in which we asked about different aspects in order to compare the results in our university with the contributions of three well-known theories: the Gartner’s Hype Cycle, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, and the Rogers’ Theory of the Diffusion of Innovations. In this paper, in particular, we have presented how students adopt technology by classifying them into the five categories Rogers raises. The analysis of the survey results states that, in general, our students present a higher number of innovators than those observed by Rogers, and a lower number of laggards. We have also found a significant difference in the time of adoption of a new technology depending on the area of knowledge of the students’ courses (engineering and architecture students adopt technologies earlier than social science students) but there are no statistically significant differences when comparing by gender.

Stuck in the Middle: Using Middle-Status Conformity to Unravel Conflicting Results in Innovation Diffusion Patterns

Abstract: Studies of diffusion have found conflicting patterns of inter-organizational innovation adoption. This paper uses the concept of middle-status conformity to propose a model of diffusion that helps to make sense of these conflicting results. This model is developed by combining the status-competition model (Podolny, 1993) with the audience-candidate interface model (Zuckerman, 1999). The integration of these models yields two distinct diffusion patterns characterized by status differences in originating and adopting organizations. Additionally, five empirically testable propositions are developed in order to lay the groundwork for testing this hybrid model.

Conspiracy Theories and (the) Media (Studies)

Abstract: Traditionally, research on conspiracy theories (CT) is not at the heart of communication and media studies. Still there are theories, concepts and findings in this discipline which can be fruitfully linked to CT research. If one sees CT as certain forms of narratives, one important question is how they spread within societies, communities and groups. To analyse this, one can apply the concept of "diffusion of innovations", alongside theories and concepts which stem from media studies, such as agenda setting or two-step flow of communication. Moreover, research on strategic and political communication, news bias and even fake news can be linked to the study of CT.