2nd Group Activity - Diffusion of Innovations:

By Corrine


In the “Diffusion of Innovations”, diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. Diffusion is a special type of communication concerned with the spread of messages that are perceived as new ideas.

Therefore, four main elements can be summarized from the model of “Diffusion of Innovations”:

(1) The innovation
(2) Communication channels
(3) Time
(4) The social system (context)

According to the model, there are 5 adopter categories, or classifications of the members of a social system, they can be categorized on the basis of their innovativeness, i.e. the degree to which an individual or other unit of adoption is relatively earlier in adopting new ideas than other members of a social system.

(1) Innovators – 2.5%
(2) Early adopters – 13.5%
(3) Early majority – 34%
(4) Late majority – 34%
(5) Laggards – 16%

Early adopters are always opinion leaders, and serve as role-models for many other members of the social system. Early adopters are instrumental in getting an innovation, thus in the successful diffusion of an innovation.

Early adopters are a more integrated part of the local system than are innovators. Potential adopters look to early adopters for advice and information about the innovation. This adopter category is generally sought by change agents as a local missionary for speeding the diffusion process.

The early majority’s unique position between the very early and the relatively late to adopt makes them an important link in the diffusion process. They provide interconnectedness in the system’s interpersonal networks.

Laggards tend to be suspicious of innovations and change agents. Resistance to innovations on the part of laggards may be entirely rational from the laggard’s viewpoint, as their resources are limited and they must be certain that a new idea will not fail before they can adopt.

The model of “Diffusion of Innovations” can be applied in the Hong Kong social system. For instance, when the 3-3-4 education reform was first introduced, it took a long consultation period for the innovators to bring it to the public. The innovators were only a minority of the public as they were the top management people of the education system who innovated the change. When the 3-3-4 system was confirmed to be implemented, some early adopters put some academic programmes into trial or practice. Most people were early majority, the schools and people tended to follow the Government’s instruction and executed the reform. Later on, the late adopters followed the early majority to carry out the educational change. A minority of people was laggard as they were afraid to follow the change, they must be certain that the reform was successful before they could adopt. That’s why some people still adopt home schooling in Hong Kong as they are not assured of the effectiveness of the Hong Kong’s education system.