Diffusion of Innovations: What Kind of Technology Adopter Are You?

      

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       In 1962, Everett Rogers published a book called Diffusion of Technologies, in which he discussed his theory of innovation diffusion.  According to Rogers, people tend to fall into one of five categories when it comes to keeping up with technology.  In other words, there are five types of adopters which include:

1. Innovators — These are the “techies” of the bunch.  Regardless of whether they need a new form of technology or not, they have to have it.  These people feel a great need to be on the cutting edge at any cost and they’re often willing to stand in line for hours or days just to be one of the first ones to get a new gadget.

2. Early Adopters — This group is not quite as adamant about getting a new form of technology immediately.  They don’t get it the first day like the innovators, but they still see great value in the device and buy it pretty early compared to the general public. 

3. Early Majority — The early majority is the group that most people usually fall in.  The common thinking for the early majority is that the new device seems pretty useful, but that it probably still has some kinks that need to be worked out.  They will typically wait for a newer, improved model that has often reduced somewhat in price.

4. Late Majority — The people in the late majority generally do not see the value of a new form of technology at first.  This group frequently needs a little pressure from others before they decide to “hop on the bandwagon.”  Much of the time, members of the late majority still don’t see the value even after they decide to adopt a device.  They simply bought it because everyone else seemed to have one or because it was becoming increasingly difficult to get along without one.

5. Laggards — The laggards do just what their name suggests: they lag behind.  These are the people who see no value in a new technological device whatsoever.  They refuse to have anything to do with it.  They just don’t see the value and no one is going to persuade them to think otherwise. 

       Now you may be wondering where I fall on this spectrum.  (Okay, so you probably aren’t, but I’m going to tell you anyway.)  It is somewhat difficult to pinpoint just one category that I fit into.  Typically, I would say that I fall into the late majority on most new forms of technology, but this is often not by choice.  For example, if my finances permitted, I probably would have bought a new Mac or some other type of new computer a long time ago.  Unfortunately, I don’t make much any money as a full-time college student so for now I am stuck with my old model HP laptop, complete a battery that lasts a whopping two and a half minutes.  In this case, I would say that if I had my druthers, I would probably fall under the early majority category.  I’m hoping that I’ll be able to buy a new laptop in a few years so that I will indeed fall into the late majority.

       On the other hand, there are instances in which I am in the late majority category because I just don’t see the value of a new device right away.  An example of this would be MySpace.  For a long time I didn’t have a MySpace account.  I just didn’t see a need for it in my life.  However, after quite a bit of pressuring from Myspace-loving family and friends, I finally gave in.  I mostly just did it so that I could have access to pictures posted by family members in another state.  In other words, I didn’t get one until everyone else seemed to have one and even now I never really use it.  I probably haven’t logged on in over 4 months.  I’m the same way with iPods.  I’m not really a big music junkie so I only have maybe 15 CDs or so, which I hardly ever listen to.  For now, I am getting along just fine with my old CD player or even just a radio.  However, I’ll probably cave in one of these days and get one.  I just can’t stand the thought of becoming a laggard.  I guess I just envision myself as some kind of a hermit living on a mountain where people point and say “That’s where Heather lives.  You know that laggard.”  Not a pretty picture for sure…

       So what category would you place yourself in?  Whether you spent the night outside an Apple store waiting for the new iPhone or you refuse to own a telephone of any kind, there’s a place for you on Everett Roger’s bell curve of adopters.  Just keep the hermit thing in mind.  Maybe it’ll inspire you to at least put out your grandmother’s old rotary dial.  And hey, now it’ll be retro.

      

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