adopter categories and factors influencing adoption

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ADOPTER CATEGORIES AND FACTORS

INFLUENCING ADOPTION

AEX 321 Extension Methods and Transferof Technology (1+1)

MANIKANDAN.V

BTE-08-027

PRESENTED BY



ADOPTION

Adoption is a decision to make full use of a new idea as the

best course of action available.

Adoption takes place within the mind of an individual.

Adoption is the end point indicator for a change.

Adoption is carried out only by the members of pre-social

system.

Awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption are the

elements in adoption process.

4/19/2011 2Adopter categories and factors influencingadoption



ADOPTER CATEGORIES

o Individual in a social system do not adopt an innovation at thesame time.

o On the basis of when they first begin using a new idea.

o Bell – shaped curve

1. Innovators : Venturesome, Educated, Multiple Info Sources

2. Early Adopter: Respectable ,social leaders, popular, educated

3. Early majority: Deliberate ( local Adoption leaders)

4. Late Majority : Skeptical, Traditional, Lower Socio-economic Status

5. Laggards : Traditional , neighbors and friends are main info

sources, fear of debt

Five adopter categories




Innovators

o Innovators are the first individuals to adopt an innovation.

o Innovators are willing to take risks, youngest in age, have the

highest social class, have great financial lucidity, very social and

have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction withother innovators.

o Risk tolerance has them adopting technologies which may

ultimately fail.

o Financial resources help absorb these failures.




This is the second fastest category of individuals who adopt an

innovation.

These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among

the other adopter categories.

Early adopters are typically younger in age, have a higher social

status, have more financial lucidity, advanced education, and are

more socially forward than late adopters.

More discrete in adoption choices than innovators.

Realize judicious choice of adoption will help them maintain central

communication position.




Early Majority

Individuals in this category adopt an innovation after a varying

degree of time.

This time of adoption is significantly longer than the innovators

and early adopters. Early Majority tend to be slower in the adoption process, have

above average social status, contact with early adopters, and

seldom hold positions of opinion leadership in a system.




LATE MAJORITY Individuals in this category will adopt an innovation after the average

member of the society.

These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of

skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted theinnovation.

Late Majority are typically skeptical about an innovation, have below

average social status, very little financial lucidity, in contact with

others in late majority and early majority, very little opinionleadership.




LAGGARDS Individuals in this category are the last to adopt an innovation. Unlike

some of the previous categories, individuals in this category show

little to no opinion leadership.

These individuals typically have an aversion to change-agents and tendto be advanced in age.

Laggards typically tend to be focused on “traditions”, likely to have

lowest social status, lowest financial fluidity, be oldest of all other

adopters, in contact with only family and close friends, very little tono opinion leadership.




There are both positive and negative outcomes when an individual or

organization chooses to adopt a particular innovation.

Rogers states that this is an area that needs further research

because of the biased positive attitude that is associated with the

adoption of a new innovation .

In the Diffusion of Innovation, Rogers lists three categories for

consequences:

1. desirable vs. undesirable,

2. direct vs. indirect, and

3. anticipated vs. unanticipated.




Community standards and social relationships provide the

general framework where in the process of change occurs, and

they account for the difference between one community (or

group) and another.

Why some people adopt new ideas and practices more

quickly than others relates in part to the individual himself.

Reasons why farm prairies more quickly at one time

than another relate to the situation in which they find

themselves when alternative courses of action become known.

SOCIAL FACTORS:

PERSONAL FACTORS:

SITUATIONAL FACTORS:

FACTORS INFLUENCING ADOPTION




I. Social factors:1. Social values

2. Local Leadership

3. Social contacts

II. Personal factors:•

Age:• Education:

• Psychological characteristics

• Values and attitudes (culturalcharacteristics)

III. Situational factors:1. Complexity

2. Cost

3. Net Returns

4. Compatibility

5. Divisibility: (Trial ability)

6. Communicability (Observability) 4/19/2011 11Adopter categories and factors influencingadoption



I. SOCIAL FACTORS Social values:

– In some groups and communities people place a higher value upon material gains

and money than they do in others. – In the adoption of new practices goes country to the establishes customs and

traditions of the people, the innovator may be ridiculed or lose prestige.

Local Leadership: – The acceptance of change is also influenced by the nature of the leadership

and control in the group or community.

– In some communities, none would accept a new idea, unless and until one man(the leader) in the community is sold on the idea.

Social contacts: – The nature and extents of social contact within and outside the community is

important in the diffusion of new ideas and techniques,

– Nature of social contact

– Extent of social contact

– Social distance




II. PERSONAL FACTORS Age:

– Elderly farmers seem to be somewhat less inclined to adopt new practices

than younger ones.

Education:

– More than eight years schooling is almost always associated with higher

adoption rates than lesser amounts.

Psychological characteristics :

– Exposure to reliable sources of farm information may create a state of

rationality, which in turn predisposes an individual to the adoption of new

practices.

– A mentally flexible person has higher adoption rates than one with mental

rigidity.

– Some people are found to be more prone to change than others.




III. Situational factors:Complexity:

Generally speaking, the more complex a practice and the more

change it requires in the existing operations, the more slowly it will be

adopted.

– A simple change: A change in materials and equipment only without

a change in techniques or operations (e.g., new variety of seed)

– Improved practice: Change in existing operation with or with – out

a change in materials or equipment (e.g., change in rotation of

crops). – Innovation: Change involving new techniques or operations (e.g.,

contour cropping)

– Change in total enterprise: e.g., from crop to livestock farming.




CONT..Cost:

Those practices which cost little seem to be adopted morerapidly than those which are more expensive.

Net Returns:

Those practices which yield, the greatest marginal returns per

rupee invested, and in the shortest time seem to be adopted most

readily.

Compatibility:

– Is the degree to which an innovation is consistent with existing values

and past experiences of the adopters.

– An idea that is not compatible with the cultural norms of a social

system will not be adopted so rapidly as an idea that is compatible

–

e.g., the lack of compatibility of the beef.4/19/2011 15Adopter categories and factors influencingadoption



CONT… Divisibility: (Trialability) :

• Is the degree to which the results of an innovation may be tried on alimited basis.

Communicability (Observability):

– Is the degree to which the results of an innovation may be to others.

–

The results of some practices are easily observed – Size of farm:

– Tenure status:

– Sources of farm information used:

–

Level of living:• Since successful farm practice adoption is instrumental in

providing the means for supporting a higher level of living, a

positive correlation between the two would be expected and is

generally found.


adopter categories and factors influencing adoption

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