The Law of Diffusion Innovation
Law of Diffusion Innovation
A business must have customers who will purchase their products or it will not survive for very long. It seems to make sense that web marketing and advertising should involve trying to get product information into as many minds as possible. But marketing efforts aimed at everyone across the board may not really be as effective as it sounds. Sometimes products have a different effect on potential consumers than those which were expected by the business owner. Web marketing efforts can be designed to reach a certain targeted group and the Law of Diffusion Innovation can be used to explain what portion of the population should be the target of ads and web marketing strategies. This will help businesses attract the right customers.
The Law of Diffusion Innovation
Everett Rogers did extensive studying and research to discover the Law of Diffusion of Innovation. AS a professor of rural sociology he took a different approach at how fast a new product, idea or technology is likely to spread throughout any cultural setting. He was able to explain the diffusion process of how an innovation moves through a population over time. Even in its inception the Diffusion of Innovation was able to be applied to multiple disciplines. Rogers pointed out four main factors that influence how new ideas typically spread across a culture: innovation, communication, time and a working social system.
In order to become self-sustaining, an innovation has to be widely adopted which requires human capital. When an innovation is in the process of being adopted by a culture there is a point of critical mass. This is partly explained by the five groups of people who are adopting it and helping it move across a culture. The five groups of adopters are: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and then the laggards. The innovation process depends on the types of adopters and the decisions that they make about a newly introduced product or idea.
How does the Diffusion Model Apply to Marketing?
When we look at the five types of adopters as explained by the Diffusion of Innovation we can see what types of web marketing strategies are necessary to ensure success. When looking at it as a marketing model we can make the five adopters into five different classes of consumers. How they perceive a product will influence its popularity and how fast it will “diffuse” throughout the population. This can be a direct influence on the success or failure of a new product making it in the marketplace. The five classes of consumers are broken up like this:
· Innovators make up about 2.5% of a population. They are the type of people who are running out to try a new product simply because it’s new. They are quick to embrace and create new ideas which force the rest of the population to look at the world in a different light.
· Early Adopters are only about 13.5% of a population. This group is not as quick to generate a new idea but they are quick to embrace a product or idea that appears to be valuable to them. Once they feel like a product is useful they will do whatever it takes to obtain it. They are also very quick to offer referrals to others about the products that they like.
· Early Majority consumers are approximately 34% of a population. This group is relatively slow to adopt new technologies, products or ideas. They are very practical and are not generally the ones who will try a product first, but may begin to pursue it once they know of others who have already tried it.
· Late Majority is also about 34% of a population. This group of consumers is also very practical in how they approach new products or ideas. They are even less eager to adopt new ideas, technologies or products. They will rarely try anything new until it has been tried and tested by many others.
· Laggards will make up the other 16% of a population. They are the absolute last to try a new product or service. They will finally begin to pursue a new product or ideas only after their “regular” options are no longer available.
This offers us a sort of bell curve of consumers and how new products are likely to be adopted across a population. The further we go towards the right side of the curve the less likely the group of consumers are to try something new. However, to the left side, the early adopters are the most eager to try new products and ideas. Even though they only make up about 13.5% of a population, they are the most likely to be the force that begins to move a product through its life cycle in a community. They are also eager to share their new discoveries. The Diffusion of Innovation indicates that our web marketing and advertising campaigns should be geared at this group when marketing new products or ideas.
The Law of Diffusion Innovation
Everett Rogers did extensive studying and research to discover the Law of Diffusion of Innovation. AS a professor of rural sociology he took a different approach at how fast a new product, idea or technology is likely to spread throughout any cultural setting. He was able to explain the diffusion process of how an innovation moves through a population over time. Even in its inception the Diffusion of Innovation was able to be applied to multiple disciplines. Rogers pointed out four main factors that influence how new ideas typically spread across a culture: innovation, communication, time and a working social system.
In order to become self-sustaining, an innovation has to be widely adopted which requires human capital. When an innovation is in the process of being adopted by a culture there is a point of critical mass. This is partly explained by the five groups of people who are adopting it and helping it move across a culture. The five groups of adopters are: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and then the laggards. The innovation process depends on the types of adopters and the decisions that they make about a newly introduced product or idea.
How does the Diffusion Model Apply to Marketing?
When we look at the five types of adopters as explained by the Diffusion of Innovation we can see what types of web marketing strategies are necessary to ensure success. When looking at it as a marketing model we can make the five adopters into five different classes of consumers. How they perceive a product will influence its popularity and how fast it will “diffuse” throughout the population. This can be a direct influence on the success or failure of a new product making it in the marketplace. The five classes of consumers are broken up like this:
· Innovators make up about 2.5% of a population. They are the type of people who are running out to try a new product simply because it’s new. They are quick to embrace and create new ideas which force the rest of the population to look at the world in a different light.
· Early Adopters are only about 13.5% of a population. This group is not as quick to generate a new idea but they are quick to embrace a product or idea that appears to be valuable to them. Once they feel like a product is useful they will do whatever it takes to obtain it. They are also very quick to offer referrals to others about the products that they like.
· Early Majority consumers are approximately 34% of a population. This group is relatively slow to adopt new technologies, products or ideas. They are very practical and are not generally the ones who will try a product first, but may begin to pursue it once they know of others who have already tried it.
· Late Majority is also about 34% of a population. This group of consumers is also very practical in how they approach new products or ideas. They are even less eager to adopt new ideas, technologies or products. They will rarely try anything new until it has been tried and tested by many others.
· Laggards will make up the other 16% of a population. They are the absolute last to try a new product or service. They will finally begin to pursue a new product or ideas only after their “regular” options are no longer available.
This offers us a sort of bell curve of consumers and how new products are likely to be adopted across a population. The further we go towards the right side of the curve the less likely the group of consumers are to try something new. However, to the left side, the early adopters are the most eager to try new products and ideas. Even though they only make up about 13.5% of a population, they are the most likely to be the force that begins to move a product through its life cycle in a community. They are also eager to share their new discoveries. The Diffusion of Innovation indicates that our web marketing and advertising campaigns should be geared at this group when marketing new products or ideas.