MANISHA PANDIT

M.PHIL

MEDIA STUDIES

Innovativeness is the degree to which an

individual is relatively earlier in adopting the

idea.

Attributes of innovation are Relative

advantage, compatibility, complexity,

trialability and observability.

Rate of adoption depends on the above

mentioned attributes.

Adopter categories are the classifications of

members of a social system on the basis of

innovativeness.

Adopters are categorized on the basis of when

they first began using the new idea.

New idea is adopted in a time sequence.

Adopter categories are useful for opinion

leaders to identify potential innovators and

laggards.

The five adopter categories are ideal types.

Ideal types are conceptualizations based on

observations of reality and designed to make

comparisons possible.

The five adopter categories are INNOVATORS,

EARLY ADOPTERS, EARLY MAJORITY,

LATE MAJORITY and LAGGARDS.

Venturesomeness is almost an obsession with

innovators.

They are eager to try new ideas.

Innovators must be able to cope with high

degree of uncertainty.

Innovator plays a gate keeping role in the

flow of new ideas into a social system.

Early adopters are more integrated part of the

local system than innovators.

They have the greatest degree of opinion

leadership.

Potential adopters look to early adopters for

advice and information.

Role of early adopter is to decrease uncertainty

about a new idea by adopting it and then

conveying the evaluation to the near peers.

The Early Majority adopts the new idea just

before the average member of a social system.

They form an important link between the very

early and relatively late to adopt the innovation.

Early Majority may deliberate before adopting a

new idea.

INNOVATION-DECISION period is relatively

longer than that of the innovator and the early

adopter.

Late Majority adopts the new idea just after

the average member of social system.

Innovations are approached with a

skepticism.

Late majority does not adopt the innovation

until most others in their social system have

done so.

Pressure of peers is necessary to motivate

adoption.

Laggards are the last in a social system to

adopt the innovation.

They tend to be suspicious of innovations and

change agents.

Traditional nature slows the INNOVATION-

DECISION process.

The previously mentioned adopter categories have

some features associated with them. The

characteristics are based on :

Socio Economic status

Personality variables

Communication behavior

Early Adopters

have more years of education

are more likely to be literate

have higher social status

a greater degree of upward social mobility

more favorable attitude towards credit.

Early Adopters :

have greater empathy

less dogmatism

greater ability to deal with abstractions

greater intelligence

more favorable attitude toward change

greater ability to cope with risk and uncertainty

less fatalism

favorable attitude toward education.

Early Adopters :

have more social participation

are more highly interconnected in social system,

are more cosmopolite

have more change agent contact

greater exposure to mass media channels and

interpersonal channels

engage in more information seeking.