diffusion of innovations presentation
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Diffusion of Innovations: Email
Rebecca Foster and Becca Levy
Diffusion
“The process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system.”
For example, the increasing popularity of email throughout the 1990s and 2000s
In the following slides, we discuss our interviews with six subjects about their adoption of the innovation of email
Adopter Categories
“The classifications of members of a social system on the basis of innovativeness.”
Innovators
Early adopters
Early majority
Later majority
Laggards
Subjects
Subject 1: father of three born in 1951, early adopter
Subject 2: mother of three born in 1953, later majority
Subject 3: mother of two born in 1946, extreme laggard (non-adopter)
Subject 4: father of three born in 1957, early majority
Subject 5: mother of three born in 1961, later majority
Subject 6: mother of two born in 1935, laggard
Characteristics of Innovations
Relative advantage
Compatibility
Complexity
Trailability
Observability
Relative Advantage
“The degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes.”
Email vs. snail mail: Email was perceived as a much faster and more efficient alternative to snail mail. It was able to convey information instantaneously and without cost, once the technology is obtained.
Email vs. phone: Both were instantaneous forms of communication, but email is cheaper and was more convenient for working around different schedules. Also, email provided a tangible record of conversation. Another point of comparison is the lack of tone of voice required when typing an email vs. talking on the phone; this could be construed as a positive or a negative.
In general, some feel email is a less personal form of communication.
Some have concerns over security/privacy issues associated with using email and the internet.
Relative Advantage Quotes
Subject 2: “No one hears your voice, so you can be as emotional or complacent as you wish. Also, the time frame is much more relaxed – I can read emails when I have the time.”
Subject 5 on tone disadvantages in email:
Subject 4 on email in the workplace:
Subject 6 on email and the elderly:
Subject 5 on benefits of using email:
Subject 4 on phone vs. email:
Subject 5 on phone vs. email (two quotes)
Compatibility
“The degree to which an innovation is perceived as being consistent with the existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters.”
Email had mixed compatibility. Email had the ability to convey the same messages that
consumers had grown to expect in a method of communication, like snail mail or the phone.
Since email required such a big investment in vastly different technologies than most were used to (the computer), some found it incompatible with their lifestyle.
This also applies to people’s value of personal communication – some feel you do not get the same level of intimacy when communicating through email than when hearing a person’s voice.
Also, this affects people’s value of privacy because personal information is so easily attainable on the internet.
Compatibility Quotes
Subject 1: “Email is more efficient…it’s a real time saver. Rather than trade phone messages, you can shoot off an email and get a quicker response.”
Subject 4 on personal aspects (two quotes):
Subject 4 on security:
Complexity
“The degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and use.”
Initially, people perceived email as highly complex and requiring a large time commitment to learn.
Complexity Quotes
Subject 3: “I’m missing not being able to hear from a lot of people that I would like to hear from if I did have an email. But you need a structured class to learn and with my schedule I would have to miss work some of the time.”
Subject 5 on adjusting to using email:
Trialability
“The degree to which an innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis.”
Email had mixed trailability. If one already had the technology, email was easy to
try, without a commitment due to free email websites.
If one did not already have the technology, trying email required a big commitment.
Trialability Quotes
Subject 1: “I bought my first computer in 1983. In the early to mid 1990’s, I heard about email from my children who talked about AOL. I just loaded AOL on my computer and followed the directions. I was already computer literate so no one needed to show me how. AOL’s system was very intuitive.”
Observability
“The degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to others.”
Email had a high degree of observability. As people saw their peers or their children talking
about and using email, they were encouraged to hop on the bandwagon and start using email themselves.
Observability Quotes
Subject 2: “It was becoming the best, fastest, most popular way of communicating and if I didn’t want to be left out of the loop completely, I needed to learn it and do it.”
Subject 4 on his motive for getting email:
The Future
We also discussed where email will take us in the future and what life will be like for those who grow up with internet communication
Subject 4:
Subject 5:
Subject 6:
Citations
Rogers, E. M. (1994).Elements of diffusion. In Diffusion of Innovations (pp. 1-37). New York: Free Press.
Thanks to Mike Levy, Cheri Levy, Raquel Shapiro, Richard Foster, Nancy Foster, & Judy Basch for the interviews.
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