Blog Post #8 - Diffusion of Innovations

 The Boston University describes The Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) Theory in great detail. The theory was developed by E.M. Rogers in 1962 and the purpose of it is to "explain how, over time, an idea or product gains momentum and diffuses through a specific population or societal system." 

The whole idea behind DOI is to see the process of adoption of an idea or product, which will not happen overnight. The adoption by a large population will take time because some individuals will love the idea and hop on it right away, others may wait till it's trending, and some may never adopt it. 

There are five established adopter categories: 

1. Innovators - These are people who want to be the first to try the innovation because they like to take risks and are adventuresome. 

2. Early Adopters - These are people who enjoy leadership roles and embrace change, they see that this innovation is the future and they are ready to be a part of it. 

3. Early Majority - These are people who are not leaders, but are willing to adopt the innovation as long as it has worked for other people. 

4. Late Majority - These are people who will only adopt the innovation after it has successfully worked for the early majority. 

5. Laggards - These are people bound by tradition, conservative, and very stubborn when it comes to change.  

With each category of individuals, you have to tailor your promotional strategy to them as well as consider factors that influence the adoption of innovation. These factors can be relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, triability, and observability. 

Applying the Diffusion of Innovation Theory can be challenging, but eye-opening. The example we will be using is the U.S. Postal Service. 

The innovators of the U.S. Postal Service would include figures such as Benjamin Franklin who was appointed the First Postmaster General in 1775. 

Franklin recognized the value of an organized postal system and worked on creating protocols for mail delivery and fostering unity among colonies. The other innovators would be the Continental Congress that appointed Benjamin Franklin, they saw the need and knew the man for the job. 

Early adopters of the U.S. Postal Service innovation would likely be the merchants, political leaders, and other influential figures in the U.S. at the time. 

These individuals would have understood the importance of community, reliable communication, and trade networks. These important figures most likely communicated with each other about the trade and political aspects of the U.S.

The early majority of the U.S. Postal Service innovation is represented by the population of colonists who were slow to shift from informal methods of communication to the established postal system. 

Once they understood the reliability and benefits of using the postal system they joined pretty quickly. The leaders in the early adopters section were the ones to convince them to adopt the postal service innovation. 

Click here to watch the US Post Office spread over time, 1700-1900

The late majority would include all of the colonists who were hesitant to use the postal service because of reasons like lack of familiarity, attachments to traditional ways, or just skepticism about the new innovation.

When the postal service started being incorporated into everyday living, this group came around and began to use it as well. 

Laggards would include individuals who were strongly rooted in their traditional ways and saw no beneficial reason for the postal service. 

They may not want to communicate with people outside of their local community, prefer face-to-face communication, or do not understand the purpose of the postal service. They most likely adopted the innovation for matters such as legal or official importance. 

In the 21st century, the vast majority of people use the U.S. Postal Service. Although there may be a few holdouts, after 250 years of service, it seems that only a tiny fraction of the population would be considered as such today.