💡 Diffusion and Adoption

Adoption

• It is a decision to make full use of an innovation as a best course of action available.
• Adoption is continuous & mental process.

Adoption Process

• According to Rogers, “adoption process is the mental process through which an individual passes from hearing about an innovation to final adoption”. Adoption process occurs at individual level.
• Normal rate of adoption require 6-10 years from the introduction of the innovation to its adoption throughout the community.

Diffusion

• It is a process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels overtime among the members of the social system.
• It is special type of communication in that the messages are concerned with new ideas.

Innovation

• An innovation is an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption.
• Ex. When farmer learn the teaching of growing the HYV crops, which they did not know earlier is innovation for them.

Perception

• Perception is an activity through which an individual becomes aware of objects around oneself and of events taking place.

Perceived attributes of innovation

• The qualities, characteristics or traits possessed by an object are known as attributes.
• The attributes of the innovation are most important for potential adopters.
• Communication of information is most effective when source & receiver are alike.

1. Relative advantage

• The degree to which an innovation is perceived as being better than idea it supersedes.
• An innovation with low relative advantage may have slow rate of adoption, high rate of discontinuance & low return on investment.

2. Compatibility

• It is the degree to which an innovation is perceived consistent with clients’ needs for innovation, previously introduced needs & socio-cultural values & beliefs.
• Compatibility has at least two dimensions: Situational & Cultural.
• Example: When a new breed of livestock is in agreement with farmer’s belief & values & new crop variety advocated to farmers suits the agro-climatic condition then it indicates the cultural compatibility & situational compatibility respectively.

3. Complexity

• The degree to which an innovation is perceived as relatively difficult to understand & use.
• Only attribute which shows negative correlation with rate of adoption.
• Example: Adoption of high yielding technologies require adoption of balanced nutrition practices, appropriate protection technology & better management methods to get best result.

4. Trialability

• The degree to which an innovation can be experimented with on a limited basis.
• It reduces risk component.
• Example: Providing free seeds & fertilizer samples to the farmers.

5. Obervability

• The degree to which the result of an innovation is visible to others.
• Example: Effect of nitrogenious fertilizers is more prominent in plants as compared to effect of phosphate & potassic fertilizers.

6. Predictability

• The degree to expecting certain benefits from adoption of innovation.

Preventive Innovation

• An idea an individual adopt at one time in order to lower probability that some future unwanted event will occur.
• Example: Contraceptives, smoking, buy insurance etc.
• ‘Preventive innovations’ have less adoption rate mainly due to low observability.

Innovation Negativism

• The degree to which an innovation failure condition a client system to reject future innovation.

FIVE STAGE MODEL OF ADOPTION PROCESS [AIETA]

(A/Q to North Central Rural Sociology Sub-committee, 1955)

1. Awareness

• The individual learns of the existence of the new idea but lacks information about it.

2. Interest

• The individual develops interest in the innovation and seeks additional information about it.
• The extension activity that needs to be emphasized in the interest stage of adoption is rapport building is needed.

3. Evaluation

• The individual makes mental application of the new idea to the present and anticipated future situations and decides whether or not to try it.
• At this stage the individual judges the worth of the innovation.

4. Trial

• The stage wherein the individual makes full use of innovation is trial but on limited scale.

5. Adoption

• The stage wherein the individual decides to continue the full use of the innovation is adoption.
• At adoption stage, information source is self-experience gained at the trial stage.
• Over adoption is due to insufficient knowledge.

SEVEN STAAGE MODEL OF ADOPTION PROCESS [NAID TEA]

• The stages of adoption are dynamic not static according to Y.P. Singh.
• Y.P. Singh is the scientists who added need as the first stage of adoption of innovation.
• Given by SINGH & PAREEK.
  1. Need
  2. Awareness
  3. Interest
  4. Deliberation
  5. Trial
  6. Evaluation
  7. Adoption

INNOVATION DECISION PROCESS

• The term innovation decision process was given by Rogers.
• The process through which an individual passes from first knowledge of an innovation, to forming an attitude towards the innovation, to a decision to adopt or reject, to implement & use of new ideas & to confirmation of this decision called innovation decision process.
• The length of time required to pass through the innovation decision process is called innovation decision period. Innovation decision period is actually a gestation period.
• Innovation decision process can be shortly called as KPDIC.

1. Knowledge

• When an individual is exposed to an innovation’s existence & gains some understanding of how it functions.
• Knowledge function is mainly cognitive or knowing.
• Types of knowledge Questions answered

2. Persuasion

• During this stage an individual forms a favourable or unfavourable attitude towards an innovation. Persuasion occurs after sensation.
• The chief concern of farmer at the persuasion stage is How to information.
• The individual is more psychologically involved with the innovation at this stage.
• The perceived attributes of innovation are specially important at persuasion stage.
• The outcome of persuasion leads to subsequent change in overt behaviour.
• Dissonance should not occur at persuasion stage.
• An uncomfortable stage of mind that an individual seeks to reduce or eliminate is dissonance.
• The method of reduction of dissonance comprises changing behaviour to bring attitude and actions in line.

3. Decision

• Decision Making is the process of consciously choosing courses of action from available alternatives & integrating them for the purpose of achieving the desired goal.
• The alternatives will be:
  • Adoption
  • Rejection

4. Implementation

• The individual puts an innovation into use.
• The degree to which an innovation is changed or modified by a user in the process of its adoption implementation is called re-invention.

5. Confirmation

• The reinforcement of innovation decision making occurs at this stage.
• Conflicting information should be strictly avoided during this stage.
• Discontinuance occurs at this stage.

👉🏻 Communication in Innovation Decision Process

• Mass media channels are relatively more important at knowledge stage.
• Interpersonal channel are important at persuasion stage.

ADOPTER CATEGORIES AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

• Classified OTBO innovativeness. Therefore individuals in the same adopters category have similar degree of innovativeness.
• Innovativeness is the degree to which an individual or other unit of adoption is relatively earlier in adopting new ideas than other members of a system.
• The classification of adopters into various categories is based on mean & standard deviation.
• Frequency of adopters when plotted over time follows a normal or bell-shape curve.
• The cumulative frequency of adopters over time follows S - shaped curve.
• Individual adopters in a social system are described in terms of his time of adoption.
• The S shape adoption curve increases at an increasing rate for innovators, early adopters & early majority.
• The time of adoption of an innovation by all the members in a social system always vary.
• All individuals in a social system adopt innovations in an ordered time sequence.
• There are 5 types of adopter categories in adoption.

1. Innovators (Venturesome)

• The farmers who are the first to try new idea are innovators.
• These are generally viewed as deviant by other members of the society.
• These have good contacts with cosmopolite, literate & more prestigious.
• 2.5 % of the total population are innovators. (-Infinite to X – 2 σ)
• Initiators incorporate the innovators into a specific plan of action adapted to needs of the system.

2. Early adopters (Respectful)

• They do not test untried idea, but quickest to use tried ideas in their own situation. So, these are considered by many as the men to “check with”.
• These are regarded as opinion leaders.
• ‘Legitimization’ (validation) is done by early adopters.
• These are more concerned about the trialability of the innovation.
• Personality wise these are lesser dogmatic & higher empathy.
• 13.5 % of the total population are innovators. (X – 2 σ to X - σ)

3. Early majority (Deliberate and local adoption leaders)

• “Be not the last to lay the old aside nor be the first by which the new is tried” is the motto of Early Majority.
• These are considered as friend & neighbours by other members in the social system.
• These adopt an innovation before every average member of the society does. 34 % of the total population. (X – σ to X)

4. Late majority (Sceptical and Cautious)

• 34 % of the total population. (X to X + σ)

5. Laggards (Traditional)

• These have little or no education, least participation & hardly any contact with outsider. The point of reference for laggards is Past.
• These are considered as custodian of indigenous knowledge.
• 16 % of the total population are innovators. (up to X + σ to X + 2σ)