The diffusion of Innovation is a theory premised on the idea that customers react differently to changes in Innovation and thereby fall into various groups of consumers within a population. For companies seeking to launch innovative products, the theory will point out the gap between a strong product roll-out and a weaker launch. Companies advertise because they want consumers to buy their products to survive in the industry for a more extended period. Digital marketing and advertisement would include attempting to enhance product awareness to as many individuals as possible. However, outreach campaigns might not be as successful as they seem. Products often have different impacts on prospective customers than businesses anticipate in their campaigns. Therefore, marketing campaigns should reach a particular audience demographic, and the Diffusion of Innovation theory clarifies what section of the public to target during campaigns. The paper discusses the Diffusion of Innovation theory, its application to marketing innovations, and strategies of creating a social network using the diffusion approach.
Background to the Law of Diffusion Innovation
Everett Roger's studies on Diffusion of Innovation points out four primary variables that affect how innovative concepts usually propagate through a society: Innovation, communications, time, and a functioning social network. Diffusion of Innovation Theory refers to the method of contact and introduction in use when introducing new products. Communication provides information to relevant individuals who directly relate to an invention and are, therefore, potential consumers. Relevant networks that support the process build into a system of communication that typically comprises of a collective framework that is involved in the innovations created. Diffusion itself relates to the particular form of communication used to propagate a new concept to society, and Innovation is a new product or brand to penetrate a market (Spankulova & Jumasheva, 2020). It also comprises improved products making a comeback into a market.
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Innovations need human resources to make them broadly accepted for self-sustenance. There is a level of a critical threshold when new products are in the course of being accepted by society. It exists in five classifications of individuals within the target market who are embracing the products and allowing them to spread through social networks. These five classifications comprise of innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards (Spankulova & Jumasheva, 2020). The cycle of Innovation relies on the category of adopters and the choices they create regarding a newly launched product or concept. Application of the Diffusion Innovation Theory to Marketing
The five categories of adopters provide insights on what kind of marketing tactics are required to guarantee effectiveness. Business marketing patterns define the five classifications as separate groups of consumers. How these groups view an innovation can affect its appeal and how easily it can "diffuse" the whole populace (Pashaeypoor et al. 2016). They have a significant effect on the viability or inability of a potential company to make its new product viable in the market. The first group of consumers is innovators. Innovators cover around 2.5% of the population (Mohammadi et al. 2018). They are individuals who rush out to use new products just because they are unique. Innovators can accept and develop creative innovations that compel the majority of society to look at the environment uniquely. The second groups of consumers are the early adopters. Early Adopters cover around 13.5 percent of the population (Mohammadi et al. 2018). This category is not as eager to create a fresh concept, but they are willing to accept a product or brand that seems to be of interest to them. Once they feel a new product is valuable, they can do anything it takes to get the product. Early adopters are prompt to give recommendations to others about new products they value.
The early majority of consumers are the third group, and they cover about 34% of the population. The category is relatively reluctant to embrace emerging technology, goods, or concepts. The group comprises of practical individuals who will rarely be the first to use a new product. However, they will actively try a product once there is enough feedback from innovators and early adopters (Schiavone & Simon, 2019). The Late Majority, the fourth group, also covers approximately 34% of the population. The Late Majority consumers are also practical customers in their response to innovative goods or concepts. They are less likely to embrace emerging innovations, developments, and items. They will wait for a larger group of the population to test the product first before they try the product. Laggards are the last group making up around 16% of the community. They are always the very last to seek out a new development or Innovation (De Jong et al. 2019). They only use new products only when their "usual" choices are no longer feasible.
The five groups create a distribution curve on how consumers anticipate accepting innovations in any target market. From the right are the laggards, and the more businesses lean to the right, the slower their new products will penetrate the market. However, the early adopters on the left are the most eager to try new products. Early adopters are the most appropriate group to target with Innovation in the market. They are influencers to the rest, and therefore marketing and advertising campaigns should use them as their target group. Starting with early adopters will ensure the Innovation penetrates the markets efficiently and is most likely to be successful (Mohammadi et al. 2018).
Implementing the Diffusion Theory on Social Networks
A social network is a designated website, platform, or application that allows users to communicate with one another by posting or sending content, comments, messages, photos, and so on. A good example is social messaging applications such as Whatsapp. The development of social networks in the industry involves dialogue, creation, and application of new concepts. In this respect, the communication of new ideas is crucial to the actualization of the anticipated Innovation. Communication strategies should, therefore, be specific to the procedure underway. The diffusion of innovations behind new concepts is essential to the progress of new social networks (Aronov & Kostyleva, 2019).
Criteria to Encourage Adoption of a New Social Network Application
Knowledge
Initiators must understand the purpose of the development of the application. Failure to have an understanding of the social network exposes the entire concept as meaningless and unenforceable. It implies that diffusing Innovation without knowledge will not be possible. Awareness of what the process of an invention constitutes is vital for the diffusion process (Aronov & Kostyleva, 2019). Communication regarding what the App does and its features must be precise and clear. In this case, for a social messaging app, initiators should be well informed about the functionality of the App as they cannot create a social network for a product whose functions are not known.
Persuasion
Persuasion influences the mindset of consumers towards using a social network. New products may be acceptable, or they may struggle for acceptance on the grounds of whether they are desirable or undesirable. Therefore, the initial mindset that the application attracts is critical to its viability (Mazarrol & Reboud, 2020). The idea is to make the application desirable using unique features not available from other apps to complement the App's acceptability. The appropriate attitude will complete the cycle of diffusion, enhancing the adoption process of the product by consumers.
Decision
The diffusion strategy is complemented by choices to accept or dismiss a new product. Relevant consumers make these choices in the market (Mazarrol & Reboud, 2020). The decision phase is vital to the development and introduction of new ideas and concepts that are deemed to be fresh and can, therefore, be either accepted or rejected by consumers. The unique features of the App could complement its acceptance in the market. For instance, the ability to attach stickers to a message and the ability to send images in any format are features that would encourage consumers to use the App.
Implementation
Implementation refers to the strategic positioning of the new application in the market. Awareness of the product, followed by the mindset it attracts, leading to the decision of acceptance, is the process that prompts the implementation of a social network. The diffusion approach involves ensuring the introduction of the application targets the group of consumers, deciding to accept in the initial stages of market penetration (Jahanmir & Cavadas, 2018). The process ensures the product is in line with the social structure of the market. In this case, an age group of between 15- 30 years would be the ideal target for the messaging application.
Confirmation
Even after implementation, there is a need to confirm product acceptance in the market to maximize its profitability. The validation approach recommends the assessment of the App's performance in the market. Innovation choices are now evident in this sense, but further validation of the accuracy of the effects of the diffusion technique is equally essential. Confirmation also necessitates an evaluation of the usefulness of the new application to sustain its viability in the going concern. For a messaging application, new sign-ups and increased online activity could confirm the App's validation in the market. Typically once laggards adapt to the application, that decision confirms its viability in the market. At this point, the application's social network is intact with full penetration of the market (Jahanmir & Cavadas, 2018)
It is fundamental for diffusion innovation researchers to characterize people's ability to be innovative, dependent on ownership, and mentality towards a scope of items. The diffusion innovation process progresses to scenarios that have a little historical context. It delivers some confusion that renders its effect immeasurable (Spankulova & Jumasheva, 2020). If products penetrating markets are distinctively new, there would be little scientific data to endorse predictions of their success or their impact in the marketplace. If the products were new but some proportion identical to previously known products, then it would be appealing to use the existing factual evidence to form several projections of the possible success of the new product. Utilizing interpretive research raises concerns regarding the unpredictable nature of the consumer's reaction to innovations and unexpected effects. Continued research that emphasizes this relationship is vital for a thorough understanding of the diffusion innovation process.
References
Spankulova, L., & Jumasheva, S. (2020). Models of Diffusion of Innovations. Available at SSRN 3594038.
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Mohammadi, M. M., Poursaberi, R., & Salahshoor, M. R. (2018). Evaluating the adoption of evidence-based practice using Rogers's diffusion of innovation theory: a model testing study. Health promotion perspectives , 8 (1), 25.
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De Jong, J. P., Gillert, N. L., & Stock, R. M. (2018). First adoption of consumer innovations: Exploring market failure and alleviating factors. Research Policy, 47(2), 487-497.
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Mazzarol, T., & Reboud, S. (2020). Adoption and Diffusion of Innovation. In Entrepreneurship and Innovation (pp. 165-189). Springer, Singapore.
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