In 1962, Everett Rogers wrote a book entitled Diffusion of Innovations. In the book, he analyzes “the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system,” — or in other words, diffusion.
Rogers book brought to light the earlier works of sociologists, anthropologists and mathematicians who had all studied the how’s and why’s of technology diffusion. Rogers work examined research from over 500 diffusion studies and produced several theories, including a theory of the adoption process and a theory of distinct adopter categories.
In his theory of the adoption process, Rogers lays out fives stages: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and adoption.
The awareness stage represents ones’ first exposure to an innovation. In the next stage, interest, the person becomes more interested and actively searches for more information. In the evaluation stage, a decision is made: should one adopt the innovation or reject it?
If a person chooses to adopt, they next move to the trial stage, wherein they use the innovation with varying frequency, determining whether they like it before moving to the adoption stage. In this final stage, a person cements their decision to use the innovation, employing it with more frequency until it becomes a part of his or her life.
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