Theories and research in Mass Communication and media studies

1. DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION
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BY
MARIA NOREEN

2. INNOVATION?
DIFFUSION?
Innovation is any new idea, new behavior,
new product, new message i.e., a new thing
that one brings to you for your adoption.
 Diffusion is defined as the process by
which that innovation “is communicated
through certain channels over time among
the members of a social system” (Rogers,
1983) 2

3. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Industrial revolution and innovations
Social and cultural changes
Mass society
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4. CONCEPTUALIZATION BY VARIOUS
SCHOLARS
 Gabrial Tarde(1890): why people adopt 10 innovations out
of 100.(laws of imitation)
 Pearl-Reed logistics(1920s)
 Gompertz
 F. Staurt Chapen
 H. Earl Pemberton(1930s)
 Abraham De Movie
 Ryan and Gross
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5. IOWA STUDY OF HYBRID SEED
CORN
Development of hybrid seed
corn(1920s)
Depression of years of 1930s
Great success of hybrid seed in
Iowa(75% farmers adopted it).
Study by Bryce Ryan and Neal
Gross(published in 1943)
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6. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Why Had farmers altered their
traditional practices?
What information did the
received, through what channels
and how did it influence their
decision making?
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7. QUESTIONS EXPLORED IN THE
STUDY
What background factors influence
the decision of farmers?
How did this innovation come to
their attention?
How long did it take between
awareness and action?
What was the pattern by which the
innovation spread over time?
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8. METHOD
Personal interviews
Two small communities
259 farmers included
All were male and had more than 20
acres in production
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9. FINDINGS
 Most tried the seed at smaller plot
 Nearly half cited from salesmen
 10% learned from radio advertisements
 10.7% informed by articles in farm journals
 14.6 named their neighbors
 Few learned from the university’s extension
service
 Another small number received information
from relatives
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10. CONTINUED
Interpersonal sources identified as
most influential
There was a modal time lag of 5 and
6 years between first hearing and
adoption.
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11. EVERETT ROGERS AND DIFFUSION
OF INNOVATION
 Reviewed 506 studies of the process in 1962
 Focused on pattern to process
 Defined innovation in straight forward way
 Clarified the work of Ryan and Gross
 Identified stages in the adoption process
 Types of adopters
 Process of diffusion
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12. ELEMENTS OF DIFFUSION OF AN
INNOVATION
There are 4 key elements in the diffusion
process:
1. Innovation: Any idea, object, or practice
that is perceived as new by members of
the social system
2. Channels of Communication: Means by
which information is transmitted to or
within the social system 12

13. CONTINUE
3. Time: rate at which innovation is
diffused or the relative speed with which
it is adopted by members of the social
system
4. Social System: Individuals,
organizations, or agencies that share a
common “culture” and are potential
adopters of the innovation
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14. ATTRIBUTES OF INNOVATIONS
 The characteristics of innovations, as perceived by
individuals, help to explain their different rates of adoption
1. Relative Advantage: Degree to which an innovation is
perceived as better than the idea it supersedes.
2. Compatibility: Degree to which an innovation is
perceived as being consistent with the existing values,
past experiences, and needs of potential adopters.
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15. CONTINUE…
3.Complexity: Degree to which an innovation
is perceived as difficult to understand and use.
4.Trialability: Degree to which an innovation
may be experimented with on a limited basis.
5.Observability: Degree to which the results
of an innovation are visible to others.
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16. CONTINUE…
Innovations that are perceived by
individuals as having greater relative
advantage, compatibility, trialability,
observability, and has less
complexity will be adopted more
rapidly than other innovations.
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17. THE INNOVATION-
DECISION PROCESS
5 step process through which an
individual (or other decision-making
unit) passes from first knowledge of an
innovation:
 (i) knowledge, (ii) persuasion, (iii)
decision, (iv) implementation, and (v)
confirmation.
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18. 18

19.  Knowledge: When the individual is exposed to the
innovation's existence and gains an understanding of how it
functions
 Persuasion: When the individual forms a favorable or
unfavorable attitude toward the innovation
 Decision: When the individual engages in activities that
leads to a choice to adopt or reject the innovation
 Implementation: When the individual puts an innovation into
use
 Confirmation: When the individual seeks reinforcement for
an innovation- decision already made but may reverse the
decision if exposed to conflicting messages about it
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20. TYPES OF ADOPTERS
(i) innovators
(ii) early adopters
(iii) early majority
(iv) late majority
(v) laggards
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21. CHANGE AGENTS
 The sequence of Change AgentRoles
1. To develop a need for change on the part of clients
2. To establish an information exchange relationship
3. To diagnose problems
4. To create an intent to change in the client
5. To translate intentions into action
6. To stabilize adoption and prevent discontinuance
7. To achieve a terminal relationship with clients
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22. IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
Provided the foundation and conceptual framework
for understanding the link between awareness,
innovation , media and adoption.
Set the stage for flood of research .
Rogers estimated that by September 1993, more then
5,000 studies of the diffusion of innovation had been
published.
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23. CONTINUE….
These studies have been widely pursued in
such fields national development, public
health, geography, marketing, adoption of
media technologies, changes in
manufacturing processes, educational
innovations, new government policies,
and dozens of others.
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24. DIFFUSION OF NEWS
 News diffusion is a branch of mass communications research dealing with how news
is circulated among publics.
 Two phases of research have occurred in news diffusion research. The first phase
began after World War II and continued to the 1980s, and the second began with the
arrival of the Internet and social media in the 1990s.
 Key questions raised during the first phase of diffusion research included whether
media or interpersonal ties are the sources of information about an event; the type of
event; and media structure.
 In the second phase, citizen journalists and others became participants in the news
production and diffusion process—which until the advent of new media had been
entirely controlled by professional journalists.
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