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Diffusion of Innovations
Now in its fifth edition, Diffusion of Innovations is a classic work on the spread of new ideas. It has sold 30,000 copies in each edition and will continue to reach a huge academic audience.
In this renowned book, Everett M. Rogers, professor and chair of the Department of Communication & Journalism at the University of New Mexico, explains how new ideas spread via communication channels over time. Such innovations are initially perceived as uncertain and even risky. To overcome this uncertainty, most people seek out others like themselves who have already adopted the new idea. Thus the diffusion process consists of a few individuals who first adopt an innovation, then spread the word among their circle of acquaintances--a process which typically takes months or years. But there are exceptions: use of the Internet in the 1990s, for example, may have spread more rapidly than any other innovation in the history of humankind. Furthermore, the Internet is changing the very nature of diffusion by decreasing the importance of physical distance between people. The fifth edition addresses the spread of the Internet, and how it has transformed the way human beings communicate and adopt new ideas.
576 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1982
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5798 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
January 2, 2014
This gets a high rating because it's a pretty classic book, and so far, I have yet to see the ideas covered in other books. Adoption theory is a surprisingly useful tool for understanding your customers and adoption cycles, and based on my personal experiences, I believe it is an accurate reflection of real-world phenomena. However, that said, I believe the book is long-winded, and can be frustrating because it seems to be targeted towards different audiences: a textbook for students of adoption theory, a message to diffusion researchers, and a primer for businesses, nonprofits and individuals interested in adoption theory. As I was reading as an interested individual, I found many parts of the book not relevant, constantly clicking "next page" on my Kindle. This applied particularly to the entire chapter dedicated to weaknesses in diffusion research. If I were to rewrite this for designers and product people, I might consider what all these insights mean for our designing and how one would apply them to the way we market and design products.
September 16, 2012
Essential reading if you want to understand how new things come into our world. It's not the majority that accepts those new things - it's a small minority of about 2 % that takes them at first. Others observe the pioneers and only if it seems that in practice the new thing has an advantage a second group of about 14 % will accept it. After them a third and fourth group. There is nearly no chance to convince people of the second or a later group, if not the whole first group is using the new thing.
I was interested in the book because of the international language Esperanto. The consequence of the theory of Diffusion of Innovations is the following: For the further spread of Esperanto it is necessary to fully inform small target groups about Esperanto, teach them and help them to begin using Esperanto. If they do so, their example will help others to get interested in Esperanto.
I was interested in the book because of the international language Esperanto. The consequence of the theory of Diffusion of Innovations is the following: For the further spread of Esperanto it is necessary to fully inform small target groups about Esperanto, teach them and help them to begin using Esperanto. If they do so, their example will help others to get interested in Esperanto.
June 2, 2019
THE book when it comes to diffusion theory: extremely thorough, yet clear and easy to read.
March 2, 2021
This is also a task from one subject from the faculty, we had to read certain chapters from the book. Although, to me, less interesting than the previous one.
December 5, 2012
READ DEC 2012
Packed with case studies and excellent examples, this is a must read for any organizational consultant or change leader.
Packed with case studies and excellent examples, this is a must read for any organizational consultant or change leader.
May 25, 2015
The phenomenon of new ideas and the point at which a trend catches fire – spreading exponentially through the population is an interesting one. Giving this phenomena a name is where this book helped me label what I observe. The idea suggests that, for good or bad, change can be promoted rather easily in a social system through a domino effect. The tipping point idea finds its origins in diffusion theory, which is a set of generalizations regarding the typical spread of innovations within a social system. In an effort to judge the truth and power of epidemic spreading of trends, I read Everett Rogers’s scholarly and scientific
Diffusion of Innovations (1995)
, which has become the standard textbook and reference on diffusion studies. What I find in this comprehensive and even-handed treatment is an insightful explanation of the conditions that indicate that an innovation will reach the much-hyped tipping point. The review outlines these basic characteristics of an innovation and its context that correlate with its diffusion.
The Mechanism of Diffusion
Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system (5). Given that decisions are not authoritative or collective, each member of the social system faces his/her own innovation-decision that follows a 5-step process (162):
1) Knowledge – person becomes aware of an innovation and has some idea of how it functions,
2) Persuasion – person forms a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the innovation,
3) Decision – person engages in activities that lead to a choice to adopt or reject the innovation,
4) Implementation – person puts an innovation into use,
5) Confirmation – person evaluates the results of an innovation-decision already made.
For most members of a social system, the innovation-decision depends heavily on the innovation-decisions of the other members of the system. In fact, empirically we see the successful spread of an innovation follows an S-shaped curve (23). There is, after about 10-25% of system members adopt an innovation, relatively rapid adoption by the remaining members and then a period in which the holdouts finally adopt. I will review Rogers’s assessment of the factors affecting the adoption of an innovation with the goal of elucidating how the earlier adopters of an innovation profoundly affect the innovation-decisions of later adopters.
The innovation-decision is made through a cost-benefit analysis where the major obstacle is uncertainty. People will adopt an innovation if they believe that it will, all things considered, enhance their utility. So they must believe that the innovation may yield some relative advantage to the idea it supersedes (208). How can they know for sure that there are benefits? Also, in consideration of costs, people determine to what degree the innovation would disrupt other functioning facets of their daily life. Is it compatible with existing habits and values? Is it hard to use? The newness and unfamiliarity of an innovation infuse the cost-benefit analysis with a large dose of uncertainty. It sounds good, but does it work? Will it break?
Since people are on average risk-averse, the uncertainty will often result in a postponement of the decision until further evidence can be gathered. But the key is that this is not the case for everyone. Each individual’s innovation-decision is largely framed by personal characteristics, and this diversity is what makes diffusion possible. For a successful innovation, the adopter distributions follow a bell-shaped curve, the derivative of the S-shaped diffusion curve, over time and approach normality (257). Diffusion scholars divide this bell-shaped curve to characterize five categories of system member innovativeness, where innovativeness is defined as the degree to which an individual is relatively earlier in adopting new ideas than other members of a system. These groups are: 1) innovators, 2) early adopters, 3) early majority, 4) late majority, and 5) laggards (262). The personal characteristics and interaction of these groups illuminates the aforementioned domino effect.
Innovators are those that enjoy being on the cutting edge (263). The innovation’s possible benefits make it exciting; the innovators imagine the possibilities and are eager to give it a try. The implementation and confirmation stages of the innovators’ innovation-decisions are of particular value to the subsequent decisions of potential adopters.
Early adopters use the data provided by the innovators’ implementation and confirmation of the innovation to make their own adoption decisions. If the opinion leaders observe that the innovation has been effective for the innovators, then they will be encouraged to adopt. This group earns respect for its judicious, well-informed decision-making, and hence this group is where most opinion leaders in a social system reside (264). Much of the social system does not have the inclination or capability to remain abreast of the most recent information about innovations, so they instead trust the decisions made by opinion leaders. Additionally, much of the social system merely wants to stay in step with the rest. Since opinion leader adoption is a good indicator that an innovation is going to be adopted by many others, these conformity-loving members are encouraged to adopt (319).
There is a plethory of information, ideas, and Rogers' theory detailed in this book. The above is a bit of a teaser to help you get an understanding of what this book is all about. This book supported the framework of my PhD dissertation, which is how I discovered it. The content is extremely rich.
The Mechanism of Diffusion
Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system (5). Given that decisions are not authoritative or collective, each member of the social system faces his/her own innovation-decision that follows a 5-step process (162):
1) Knowledge – person becomes aware of an innovation and has some idea of how it functions,
2) Persuasion – person forms a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the innovation,
3) Decision – person engages in activities that lead to a choice to adopt or reject the innovation,
4) Implementation – person puts an innovation into use,
5) Confirmation – person evaluates the results of an innovation-decision already made.
For most members of a social system, the innovation-decision depends heavily on the innovation-decisions of the other members of the system. In fact, empirically we see the successful spread of an innovation follows an S-shaped curve (23). There is, after about 10-25% of system members adopt an innovation, relatively rapid adoption by the remaining members and then a period in which the holdouts finally adopt. I will review Rogers’s assessment of the factors affecting the adoption of an innovation with the goal of elucidating how the earlier adopters of an innovation profoundly affect the innovation-decisions of later adopters.
The innovation-decision is made through a cost-benefit analysis where the major obstacle is uncertainty. People will adopt an innovation if they believe that it will, all things considered, enhance their utility. So they must believe that the innovation may yield some relative advantage to the idea it supersedes (208). How can they know for sure that there are benefits? Also, in consideration of costs, people determine to what degree the innovation would disrupt other functioning facets of their daily life. Is it compatible with existing habits and values? Is it hard to use? The newness and unfamiliarity of an innovation infuse the cost-benefit analysis with a large dose of uncertainty. It sounds good, but does it work? Will it break?
Since people are on average risk-averse, the uncertainty will often result in a postponement of the decision until further evidence can be gathered. But the key is that this is not the case for everyone. Each individual’s innovation-decision is largely framed by personal characteristics, and this diversity is what makes diffusion possible. For a successful innovation, the adopter distributions follow a bell-shaped curve, the derivative of the S-shaped diffusion curve, over time and approach normality (257). Diffusion scholars divide this bell-shaped curve to characterize five categories of system member innovativeness, where innovativeness is defined as the degree to which an individual is relatively earlier in adopting new ideas than other members of a system. These groups are: 1) innovators, 2) early adopters, 3) early majority, 4) late majority, and 5) laggards (262). The personal characteristics and interaction of these groups illuminates the aforementioned domino effect.
Innovators are those that enjoy being on the cutting edge (263). The innovation’s possible benefits make it exciting; the innovators imagine the possibilities and are eager to give it a try. The implementation and confirmation stages of the innovators’ innovation-decisions are of particular value to the subsequent decisions of potential adopters.
Early adopters use the data provided by the innovators’ implementation and confirmation of the innovation to make their own adoption decisions. If the opinion leaders observe that the innovation has been effective for the innovators, then they will be encouraged to adopt. This group earns respect for its judicious, well-informed decision-making, and hence this group is where most opinion leaders in a social system reside (264). Much of the social system does not have the inclination or capability to remain abreast of the most recent information about innovations, so they instead trust the decisions made by opinion leaders. Additionally, much of the social system merely wants to stay in step with the rest. Since opinion leader adoption is a good indicator that an innovation is going to be adopted by many others, these conformity-loving members are encouraged to adopt (319).
There is a plethory of information, ideas, and Rogers' theory detailed in this book. The above is a bit of a teaser to help you get an understanding of what this book is all about. This book supported the framework of my PhD dissertation, which is how I discovered it. The content is extremely rich.
July 16, 2021
I have read this book as part of work task. I found this book interesting. However, I truly believe the author must work on a more shaped and modern edition.
October 31, 2024
Some technologies are adopted other aren't - there is a whole science as to why.
November 6, 2012
Oh my gosh, I hope I never have to see this book again. It was required reading for a doctoral course, or I would have put it away much sooner.
The book concentrates on the process of introducing a change into a culture and seeing it through to completion. It is exhaustive (and exhausting) in describing the stages of diffusing an innovation (i.e. introducing a change), the change agents who are successful, how organizations can diffuse innovations, etc. To be sure, it contains some very good information about introducing and seeing change efforts diffused in people and organizations. This is why I give it 2 stars: it does have good insights, though I have read most of these insights in more interesting and applicable works.
But the book was written for academia, not for people who actually want to diffuse an innovation. Every word is precisely defined. Countless examples of innovation diffusions are given throughout the book. With each chapter, I started thinking, "Ok, you made your point 10 pages ago. When are we going to wrap up this chapter." Then I would discover that it had another 20 pages of painful, headache inducing sludge to muck through.
I love reading about change theory and implementation. But there are much more interesting and applicable works to read if you are, indeed, involved in leading change. Avoid this work unless you are doing a purely academic student of change. If not, get John Kotter's Leading Change or try out Influencer: The Power to Change Anything.
The book concentrates on the process of introducing a change into a culture and seeing it through to completion. It is exhaustive (and exhausting) in describing the stages of diffusing an innovation (i.e. introducing a change), the change agents who are successful, how organizations can diffuse innovations, etc. To be sure, it contains some very good information about introducing and seeing change efforts diffused in people and organizations. This is why I give it 2 stars: it does have good insights, though I have read most of these insights in more interesting and applicable works.
But the book was written for academia, not for people who actually want to diffuse an innovation. Every word is precisely defined. Countless examples of innovation diffusions are given throughout the book. With each chapter, I started thinking, "Ok, you made your point 10 pages ago. When are we going to wrap up this chapter." Then I would discover that it had another 20 pages of painful, headache inducing sludge to muck through.
I love reading about change theory and implementation. But there are much more interesting and applicable works to read if you are, indeed, involved in leading change. Avoid this work unless you are doing a purely academic student of change. If not, get John Kotter's Leading Change or try out Influencer: The Power to Change Anything.
October 10, 2007
Textbooks suck, but not this one. The case studies in this book are so eye-opening about how change is more art than science. You can't just say, "do it because I said so" and expect it to get done. The people really need to be involved in the change and have an opportunity to be heard. This is a long book, but I promise that it is worth it.
April 23, 2018
I've read a couple of chapters of the first version (1983), it was an exciting read. It changed my view to the diffusion of innovations process. It made me understand and be aware of some fundamental elements I need to consider before creating or promoting a software product, though the book is not about software.
January 20, 2010
diffusion of innovations theory has been used in fields of ICT, in marketing and in developing behaviour change communications. This is a great and thorough overview. Many of the ideas in the field overlap with theories of social networks.
December 3, 2012
Excellent resource on innovation and technology adoption and diffusion. Based on extensive research of the innovation literature.
August 15, 2017
The foundational text on scaling & spreading new interventions. It's a long and slightly academic read, but it is extremely informative.
March 24, 2023
The Diffusion of Innovations book, while long, about 500 pages, was much better than I expected. It is a comprehensive academic book that I found interesting. He integrates the idea of innovations with many other existing theories. He also highlights what is essential with regard to spreading new ideas or innovations. The point of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory is to describe, predict, explain, and possibly improve the adoption of innovative ideas, for which he does an excellent job.
He also does an excellent job of highlighting the associated limitations. For instance, he often points out the limitation of a Pro-Innovation bias or the idea that all innovations are good. To counter this point, he provides multiple examples, such as the innovation of snowmobiles in Finland, where the introduction of the innovation was not good for the community and or the users- over the long term.
Throughout the book, he provides many generalizations summarizing key findings that I found especially helpful. The message I got from the book was the same as in Steve Jobs's famous 2005 commencement speech at Stanford. (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR...)
In Job's speech, he spoke about Dots, which were experiences, and suggested we should get as many as possible. Rogers documented that innovators got more experiences, and these experiences helped them be the most educated, intelligent, socially connected, and integrated into society. Rogers's book documents the benefits possible if we all get more Dots or experiences, as Jobs recommended.
He also does an excellent job of highlighting the associated limitations. For instance, he often points out the limitation of a Pro-Innovation bias or the idea that all innovations are good. To counter this point, he provides multiple examples, such as the innovation of snowmobiles in Finland, where the introduction of the innovation was not good for the community and or the users- over the long term.
Throughout the book, he provides many generalizations summarizing key findings that I found especially helpful. The message I got from the book was the same as in Steve Jobs's famous 2005 commencement speech at Stanford. (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR...)
In Job's speech, he spoke about Dots, which were experiences, and suggested we should get as many as possible. Rogers documented that innovators got more experiences, and these experiences helped them be the most educated, intelligent, socially connected, and integrated into society. Rogers's book documents the benefits possible if we all get more Dots or experiences, as Jobs recommended.
April 10, 2021
Лучшая из прочитанных мною книг об инновациях. Книга основана на научных данных, а не фантазиях очередного бизнесмена. Первое издание вышло в 1962 году, я читал 5-е. Единственный недостаток книги - это перегруженность цифрами, фактами, данными и сложностью изложения материала. Книга сложная для чтения, но она того стоит если вы хотите вывести на рынок новый продукт или имеете дело с инновациями и вас интересует их распространение и развитие. Сложность книги возникла не из-за неумения автора понятно излагать свои мысли, а из-за огромного количества передаваемой информации. Он собрал в одной книге данные о распространении инноваций за десятки лет, выстроил это все в виде стройной теории и усовершенствовал путем многократной доработки книги.
Начало книги скучное, поэтому тут придется себя напрячь. Самая интересная часть начинается с середины и становится еще интересней к концу книги завершая ее на интересных выводах о непредсказуемости последствий от инноваций.
Начало книги скучное, поэтому тут придется себя напрячь. Самая интересная часть начинается с середины и становится еще интересней к концу книги завершая ее на интересных выводах о непредсказуемости последствий от инноваций.
June 1, 2021
This classic work in diffusion research features seminal works of Bryce Ryan and Cross C Neal and others. The book focus on explaining frameworks for analyzing the diffusion of innovation as a process rather than an outcome. Prof. Rogers's works on diffusion reason itself is a pioneering work. His proposition of diffusion of innovation curve and the S-curve of the rate of adoption of innovation are insightful framework for analyzing the behavior of the adopters, the rate with which they adopt technology and the role of change agent in targeting the different categories of adopters differently. Filled with box stories on innovation has made this book an interesting. Overall, this book serves as handbook to those interested in diffusion research.
April 11, 2018
Hindsight lesson learned and shared for future readers...unless you have to read this for academic purposes, it's probably best to read the very good summaries at the end of each chapter and then decide if you want to dig further. This is enormously tedious. I am in a year long certification program this year and one of the lectures cited some good stuff from this book. I didn't ask, nor had a reason to ask, if the book was worth reading beyond the couple of sound bites. Fair warning to the casual reader...the concepts are not difficult, and may even seem obvious (and also dated, despite this being the fifth edition), but ...flat.
January 24, 2019
I didn't read this in the utmost detail but its an instant reference. There's a whole lot of example, its clear Everett is very knowledgeable about his subject, and it is quite fun to see the time dimension so thoroughly analyzed. He even critiques his own approaches numerous times. The only thing I don't really understand is the excessive categorization, it seems like if you go through all the combinations of categories proposed in the book you would wind up with a long list of stages, or types or the types of adopter, etc. Anyway I don't find it to be a book for the general interest, probably for those who really want to dig down into how innovations get adopted.
December 3, 2025
Every once in a while you read a book that quietly rewires the way you see people, and Diffusion of Innovations did that. Anyway, this is actually my mom’s book, but I ended up finishing it, so here’s my quick review. Rogers takes this seemingly dry idea of how innovations spread and turns it into a sharp, almost unsettling look at why we cling to old habits or leap toward the new. You'll start noticing the adoption curve everywhere in your friends, your workplace, even yourself. Some examples are dated, sure, but the insight feels timeless. By the end, you’re left with the sense that innovation is never just about technology, it’s about fear, trust and human behavior.
Great book.
8/10
Great book.
8/10
October 6, 2018
This is a beautiful book for business studies. Written by "farmer", use corn as a case study, having BS in Agriculture, focusing on rural sociology, but develop "diffusion of innovation" concept that widely used in technology, IT or any innovation-related business. The book contains case studies, criticism, and weakness. It is like reading a good thesis which written very clear and easy to understand. I never thought that reading a classical work like this will be fun. Five stars, and will reread again.
April 21, 2018
This book has aged well. It's good to see innovation discussion in contexts that we don't usually think of it today (i.e., pre-internet). It highlights the consistent patterns, and helps separate them from the idiosyncrasies of each industry.
Nevertheless, the style is quite dry, and the author repeats himself more than I'd like. His chapter summaries are literally restating the thesis of each section, rather than connecting them in a more memorable way.
Nevertheless, the style is quite dry, and the author repeats himself more than I'd like. His chapter summaries are literally restating the thesis of each section, rather than connecting them in a more memorable way.
May 29, 2019
As far as educational textbooks go, this was exceptional. Rather than being a dry lit review of many studies, this was a fascinating look at at least 450 case studies, all which were very interesting and enlightening. Rogers has a sense of humor that makes it a quick read, and his clarity of thought makes a complex concepts extremely understandable. There’s great tables, and each chapter has clear and concise summaries s. It is an outstanding book.
July 16, 2020
Assigned for a class, it is the first text I would have picked up and wanted to read from cover to cover anyway. Everyone talks about Gladwell’s Tipping Point, without having read that myself I think this is the work (and the studies referenced therein) that Gladwell based his work. Fascinating stuff that I’m not sure how to apply but certainly many things to mull over, reference, and come back too whenever I either encounter change in my profession or seek to institute some.
March 19, 2021
I read it because I had to for a class. I'm guessing that's why most people read it.
There probably needs to be a "Diffusion for Dummies" version. I think I would have liked that.
Still, great illustrations and applications can be made to various fields. I see the purpose of the book, I simply didn't appreciate the length.
It's also interesting to see how the book has been updated over the past six decades. Obviously, the material is considered to be valuable.
There probably needs to be a "Diffusion for Dummies" version. I think I would have liked that.
Still, great illustrations and applications can be made to various fields. I see the purpose of the book, I simply didn't appreciate the length.
It's also interesting to see how the book has been updated over the past six decades. Obviously, the material is considered to be valuable.
April 6, 2022
Really straight forward and well organized theory…my only complaint is the number of lists! It would have helped to see them switch between numbers, letters, and even just bullet lists in the chapter. I find it confusing to have multiple numbered lists within a larger list of the same numbers. Multiple chapters do this and it wouldn’t change the meaning just make the communication of the ideas nicer.
June 12, 2018
I read this one for work and definitely felt like I was back in school. The book is well written but there's a lot of information and new concepts to work through, so reading it felt a lot like work. Funny that. Highly recommended for anyone trying to get new ideas, technologies or any other innovations adopted.
January 1, 2019
An in-depth examination at innovation and how it spreads throughout cultures. This is a bit of a dry and lengthy read, but the research still holds true. Reading this will give you a great understanding on how innovations spread and essentially provides a roadmap to plan your next innovation’s adoption.
January 2, 2019
Great read
Rogers does a great job explaining complex ideas about innovation in approachable terms. The summary sections were fantastic at reinforcing the ideas from the chapters.
This book is must read for anyone working in business, customer success, user experience, product management, engineering, anthropology, marketing
Rogers does a great job explaining complex ideas about innovation in approachable terms. The summary sections were fantastic at reinforcing the ideas from the chapters.
This book is must read for anyone working in business, customer success, user experience, product management, engineering, anthropology, marketing
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July 6, 2019I don't think it would be fair for me to rate this. While I was prepared for it to be text book like, I wasn't at all interested in a history and methodology behind the study of diffusion. It will stay on my shelves but it will be exclusively as a reference. Looking forward to some more interesting reading.,
Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews