Diffusion (business)

Theories

There are several theories that purport to explain the mechanics of diffusion:

• The two-step hypothesis – information and acceptance flows, via the media, first to opinion leaders, then to the general population
• Trickle-down fashion – products tend to be expensive at first, and therefore only accessible to the wealthy social strata – in time they become less expensive and are diffused to lower and lower strata.
• The Everett Rogers Diffusion of innovations theory – for any new idea, concept, product or method, there are five categories of adopters:
  • Innovators – venturesome, educated, multiple info sources;
  • Early adopters – social leaders, popular, educated;
  • Early majority – deliberate, many informal social contacts;
  • Late majority – skeptical, traditional, lower socio-economic status;
  • Laggards – neighbors and friends are main info sources, fear of debt.
• The Chasm model developed by Lee James and Warren Schirtzinger - Originally named The Marketing Chasm, this model overlays Everett Rogers' adoption curve with a gap between early adopters and the early majority. Chasm theory is only applicable to discontinuous innovations, which are those that impose a change of behavior, new learning, or a new process on the buyer or end user. And the pre-requisite for a chasm or gap to exist in the adoption lifecycle is the innovation must be discontinuous.
• Technology driven models – These are particularly relevant to software diffusion. The rate of acceptance of technology is determined by factors such as ease of use and usefulness.