Components of the Diffusion of Innovation Theory

Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory, developed by Rogers in 1962, is one of the oldest social science theories. It originated in communication to explain how, over time, an idea or product spreads through a specific population or social system. The end result of this diffusion is that people, as part of a social system, adopt a new idea, behavior, or product. Adoption means that a person does something differently than what they had previously. The key to adoption is that the person must perceive the idea, behavior, or product as new or innovative. It is through this that diffusion is possible (Boston University of Public Health, 2013).

Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory has been used successfully in many fields including communication, agriculture, public health, criminal justice, social work, marketing, and nursing (Boston University of Public Health, 2013; Doyle, Garrett & Currie, 2013 ). There are five adopter categories: (1) innovators who want to be the first to try the innovation and counts for 2.5% of a specific population, (2) early Adopters who represent opinion leaders and counts for 13.5%, (3) early majority who are rarely leaders, but they do adopt new ideas before the average person and counts for 34%, (4) late majority who are skeptical of change, and will only adopt an innovation after it has been tried by the majority and counts for 34%, and (5) laggards who are bound by tradition and very conservative, and counts for 16%. The stages of innovation adoption include awareness of the need for an innovation, decision to adopt (or reject) the innovation, initial use of the innovation to test it, and continued use of the innovation. There are five main factors that influence adoption of an innovation: (1) advan...

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...ions model, Parrinello (2012) described the process of implementing new guidelines to screen for metabolic syndrome in a suburban psychiatric day treatment hospital. Guided by Rogers' diffusion of innovations model, Schaumberg, Narayan, & Wright (2013), developed, implemented, and evaluated a new evidence based practice project, Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) Psychiatric Bridging Intervention. By successful implementation of APN, clients required only 30-minute for initial psychiatric evaluation appointments compared to the typical 60-minute appointment. Moreover, Peeters, de Veer, van der Hoek & Francke (2012) examined the applicability of four perceived attributes in Rogers' diffusion of innovations model, which may influence the adoption of home telecare by elderly or chronically ill people, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity and observability.