this ppt discussed five attributes of innovation i.e. relative advantage, compatability, complexity, observability, and trialability along with few cases from book "diffusion of innovations" by E.M.Rogers

1. Presentation on
Attributes of
Innovations
Presented to: Presented by:
Dr Gyanendra Sharma Praveen Singh Rana
Dr Arpita

2. Introduction
Innovation is an idea, practice or object
that is perceived as new by an individual
or other unit of adoption. It also includes
the implementation of that new knowledge
to productive or organisational process.

3. Attributes
• They the are qualities, characteristics or
traits possessed by an object .
• An innovation has some qualities or
characteristics .
• It is not the intrinsic quality.

4. The Perceived Attributes of
Innovation are
1. Relative Advantage
2. Compatibility
3. Complexity
4. Trialability
5. Observability

5. 1) Relative Advantage
“ It is the degree to which an innovation is percived
as being better than the idea it supersedes.”
• The degree of relative advantage is often
expressed as economic profitability, as
conveying social prestige, or in other ways.
• The relative advantage of an innovation, as
perceived by members of a social system, is
positively related to its rate of adoption.

6. Cases
• An example is the video cassette recorder (VCR),
which sold for more than $1200 in 1980, when it
was introduced in the United States. But in 2002 a
VCR is sold for less then $50. So the adoption
increases tremendously.
• An example of the status providing capacity of
certain farm innovations is provided by the diffusion
of “Harvestore” silos in the rural United States.
Source: Diffusion of Innovation, E.M.Rogers

7. 2) Compatibility
“It is the degree to which an innovation is
perceived as consistent with the existing
values, past experiences, and needs of
potential adopters”
• An innovation can be compatible or incompatible
with socio-cultural values and beliefs, previously
introduced ideas and/or client needs for the
innovation.
• The compatibility of an innovation, as perceived
by members of a social system, is positively
related to its rate of adoption.

8. Cases
• In modern urban India there is a strong norm
against eating food with the left hand, which is
believed to be unclean.
• Study by Brandner and Straus (1959): they found that
hybrid sorghum was planted on 28 percent of the
sorghum acreage in northeastern Kansas the first year
the new seed was available, despite the fact that this
innovation was not yet recommended by the Kansas
Agricultural Experiment Station or the Extension Service
.
Source: Diffusion of Innovation, E.M.Rogers

9. 3) Complexity
“It is the degree to which an innovation is
perceived as relatively difficult to understand and
use.”
• The complexity of an innovation, as perceived by
members of a social system, is negatively
related to its rate of adoption.
• Complexity may not be as important as other
attributes for many innovations

10. Case
The perceived complexity of home computers
was an important negative force in their rate
of adoption in the 1980s. Eventually, home
computers became more user-friendly, and
their rate of adoption gradually rose to about
50 percent of all U.S. households by 2002.
Source: Diffusion of Innovation by E.M.Rogers

11. 4) Trialability
“It is the degree to which an innovation may be
experimented with in a limited basis”
• The trialability of an innovation, as perceived by
the members of a social system, is positively
related to its rate of adoption.
• Laggards move from initial trial to full-scale use
more rapidly than do innovators and early
adopters.

12. Ryan and Gross (1943) study of the diffusion
of hybrid seed corn.
The average respondent took three or four
years after planting his first hybrid seed,
usually on a small trial plot of about one acre,
before deciding to plant 100 percent of his
corn acreage in hybrid varieties.
Source: Diffusion of Innovation, E.M.Rogers
Case

13. 5) Observability
• The observability of an innovation, as perceived
by members of a social system, is positively
related to its rate of adoption.
• The easier it is for individuals to see the results
of an innovation, the more likely they are to
adopt.
“it is the degree to which the results of an
innovation are visible to others”

14. Case
Solar water-heating adopters, are often found
in neighborhood clusters in California, with
three or four adopters located on the same
block. Many other city blocks have no solar
flat-plate collectors. The clustering of visible
innovations is one evidence for the
importance of observability.
Source: Diffusion of Innovation, E.M.Rogers

15. Why we are studying
the attributes of
innovation?

16. Case : Cellular Telephone and
the Lifestyle Revolution
• In1983, Price of each cellphone is $3000
in U.S. Size of mobile phone is as large as
a brick. It was not very mobile but can be
car mounted.
• Later with technology development price
of one cellphone reduced to $200. Size
also reduced and it can be kept in pocket.
• Nokia was the company who made it
possible and has captured most of the
market share.

17. continue…
• Frank Nuovo, vice president for design in nokia,
who is responsible for nokia mobile phones of
varying sizes, varying colours and other
innovations.
• Businessmen were the first who adopt the
innovation mainly for the purpose of time saving.
• Then when mobile become more user friendly,
household adopt the innovation for the purpose of
sociability.
• Then individuals especially youth adopted this as
a new type of lifestyle and free from parental
control.
Source: Diffusion of Innovation, E.M.Rogers

18. Preventive Innovations
“It is an idea that an individual adopts at one point
of time in order to lower the probability that some
future unwanted event will occur”
• These unwanted events might not have
happened even without the adoption of the
preventive innovation, so the benefits are not
clear cut
• Preventive innovations have slow rate of
adoption because difficulties in perceiving its
relative advantage

19. Case
An important preventive innovation in
America, if completely adopted, could save
9,238 lives per year, is fastening automobile
seat belts.
In a general sense, these people are saying
that the cost and effort required to use seat
belts is greater than the possible benefits
(they feel their probability of being in an
accident is negligible.
Source: Diffusion of Innovation, E.M.Rogers

20. Some other important concepts
which affects the rate of
adoption
• Overadoption.
• Incentives and its
types.
• Mandates of
adoption.
• Technology clusters
• Naming of Innovation.
• Positioning an
Innovation.
• Acceptibiliy Research.
• Indigenous
Knowledge System.

21. Thanks for your
patience….