Process and Elements

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2. An Assignment on UNIT I
ELEMENTS OF DIFFUSION
Course No: EXT.503
Course Title:
Diffusion and Adoption of Innovations (2+1)
SUBMITTED TO
Dr. J. B. Patel
Associate Professor
Department of Extension Education
B A College of Agriculture
AAU, Anand-388 110
SUBMITTED BY
Haseena Bibi (04-2599-2015)
M.Sc. (Agri.) Extn. Edu.
2nd Semester 2

3. What is diffusion?
• The process by which an
innovation is communicated
through certain channels over time
among the members of a social
system.
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4. • In this context communication is:
• ‘A process whereby participants share
information to reach a mutual understanding’.
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5. • Diffusion is a special type of communication
in which the messages are about a new idea.
• The newness of the idea gives diffusion its
special character – it ensures that a degree
of uncertainty is involved in diffusion.
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6. • Uncertainty – the degree to which a range
of alternatives are perceived with regard to
the occurrence of an event.
• Uncertainty implies lack of predictability
and therefore of information.
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7. • To put this in a nutshell - for Rogers, “Diffusion of
innovations" means
• The dissemination of uncertainty-reducing
information embodied in products or processes
through a social system.
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8. The Process of the diffusion of
Innovations
• Diffusion is a process where an innovation is
communicated through certain channels over
time among members of a social system
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10. Four Elements in Diffusion of
Innovations:
• Diffusion is a process where:
1) an innovation
2) is communicated through certain channels
3) over time
4) among members of a social system
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11. The Innovation
• An idea, practice or object that is perceived as
new by an individual or other unit of adoption.
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12. Characteristics of Innovation –
1. Relative Advantage
2. Compatibility
3. Complexity
4. Trialability
5. Observability
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14. • Relative Advantage – Over existing technologies -
can be perceived, may be measured in
Economic terms,
Social prestige,
Convenience and
Satisfaction.
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15. • Compatibility – with existing values, past
experiences, needs of potential adopters
(and their social system)
• Complexity - degree to which an innovation
is perceived as difficult to understand and
use.
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16. • Trialability – degree to which an innovation
may be experimented with on a limited
basis. A trialable innovation represented
less uncertainty to a potential adopter.
• Observability – Degree to which the results
of an innovation are visible to others.
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17. .
Communications Channels
• The means by which messages get from one
individual to another.
• The nature of the information-exchange
relation determines the conditions under
which a source will/will not transmit the
innovation to the receiver and the effect of
the transfer.
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18. • Mass-media – most efficient way to create
awareness knowledge of an innovation
• Interpersonal channels – more effective
in persuading in individual to accept a
new idea.
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19. • The closer (more homophilious) two individuals
are, the more frequently and more successful the
transfer of ideas between them.
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20. Time
• Time - third element in the diffusion
process. Involved in:
– the innovation-decision process
– the innovativeness of an individual
– an innovation’s rate of adoption in a system
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21. THE INNOVATION-DECISION PROCESS
• THE INNOVATION-DECISION PROCESS -
the process through which an individual passes
from first knowledge of an innovation to forming
an attitude toward the innovation, to a decision to
adopt or reject it.
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22. • Five stages in the innovation-decision
process:
(1) Knowledge,
(2) Persuasion,
(3) Decision,
(4) Implementation, and
(5) Confirmation.
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24. • Knowledge occurs when an individual (or other decision-
making unit) learns of the innovation’s existence and gains
some understanding of how it functions.
• Persuasion occurs when an individual (or other decision-
making unit) forms a favourable or unfavourable attitude
toward the innovation.
• Decision occurs when an individual (or other decision-
making unit) engages in activities that lead to a choice to
adopt or reject the innovation.
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25. • Implementation occurs when an individual (or other
decision-making unit) puts an innovation into use. Re-
invention is especially likely to occur at the implementation
stage.
• Confirmation occurs when an individual (or other
decision-making unit) seeks reinforcement of an
innovation-decision that has already been made, but the
individual may reverse this previous decision if exposed to
conflicting innovation.
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26. • At the knowledge stage the individual wants to
know what the innovation is and how and why
it works.
• Mass media channels
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27. • At the persuasion stage the individual wants
to know the innovation’s advantages and
disadvantages in his or her own situation.
• Interpersonal networks
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28. • Ultimately, the innovation-decision process
leads to either ‘adoption or to rejection’.
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29. INNOVATIVENESS AND
ADOPTER CATEGORIES
• “Innovativeness” - the degree to which an
individual or other unit of adoption is
relatively earlier in adopting new ideas than
the other members of a system.
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30. • The adopter categories
(1) Innovators,
(2) Early adopters,
(3) Early majority,
(4) Late majority, and
(5) Laggards.
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32. RATE OF ADOPTION
• Rate of adoption - the relative speed with
which an innovation is adopted by members
of a social system.
• When the number of individuals adopting a
new idea is plotted on a cumulative
frequency basis over time, the resulting
distribution is an “S-shaped curve.”
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33. • Most innovations have an S-shaped rate of adoption.
• But there is variation in the slope of the “S” from innovation to
innovation;
• Some new ideas diffuse relatively rapidly and the S-curve is quite
steep.
• Other innovations have a slower rate of adoption, and the S-curve
is more gradual, with a slope that is relatively lazy.
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34. A Social System
• Defined as: a set of interrelated units that
are engaged in joint problem-solving to
accomplish a common goal.
• This sharing of a common objective binds
the system together.
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35. • The social structure of the system affects the
innovation’s diffusion in several ways. Here
we deal with:
– how the system’s social structure affects
diffusion,
– the effect of norms on diffusion,
– the roles of opinion leaders
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36. Social Structure
• To the extent that the units in a social
system are not all identical in their
behaviour, structure exists in the system.
• Structure - the patterned arrangements of
the units in a system.
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38. SYSTEM NORMS AND
DIFFUSION
• Norms are: Established behaviour patterns for
the members of a social system.
• They define a range of tolerable behaviour and
serve as a guide or a standard for the members’
behaviour in a social system.
• The norms of a system tell an individual what
behaviour is expected. Thus a system’s norms
can be a barrier to change.
• Norms can operate at the level of a nation, a
religious community, an organisation, or a local
system like a village. 38

39. OPINION LEADERS
• Some members of the system function as opinion
leaders.
• They provide information and advice about
innovations to many in the system.
• They are opinion leaders
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40. • Opinion leadership is: the degree to which an individual is
able to influence other individuals’ attitudes/behaviour.
• This leadership is not a function of the individual’s formal
position.
• Opinion leadership is earned and maintained by the
individual’s
– technical competence,
– social accessibility, and
– conformity to the system’s norms.
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