ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION

ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION

Diffusion of innovation is dynamic topic and is related with the study that how the innovations are made known and are spread throughout the society. It can be defined as

  “THE PROCESS BY WHICH AN INNOVATION IS COMMUNICATED THROUGH CERTAIN CHANNEL OVERTIME AMOING THE MEMBERS OF SOCIAL SYSTEM”

Types of Diffusion of Innovation.

  Centralized

The process of diffusing the innovation under the supervision of the government sector.

  Decentralized

This is not under the supervision of the government secor but is under some unit of society, any organization or by any private sector.

Element of Diffusion of Innovation.

There are four elements of this process


1.INNOVATION
2.CHANNEL
3.TIME
4.SOCIAL SYSTEM

  Innovation



It can e defined as “Any idea, practice or object which is perceived as new by an individual or any other unit of adoption. For example if government decides to change its stance on Kashmir and supports for the division of Kashmir it will be a new idea. Similarly education for women in the rural areas and the population control are the examples of new practices. Likewise new tools of ploughing and computers can be taken as example of new object. An innovation may differ from individual to individual and community to community because any idea, practice or object may be new for one and not for the others

Characteristics of Innovation
1)Relative Advantages
2)Compatibility
3)Complexity
4)Trialability
5)Observability

Relative AdvantageThe degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the one it supersedes. Four things i.e. economics factor, social prestige, convenience and satisfaction usually judge the advantage of any innovation . For example if user of a typewriter replaces it with computer , he will do so by comparing the latter’s advantage with the former. Similarly a farmer will use new tools of ploughing after judging relative advantage of these innovation.



Compatibility.

The degree to which an innovation is perceived as being compatible with the existing values and needs of the receiver. Compatibility is basically how much an innovation matches the values and suits the needs of the receiver. We can say that compatibility is directly proportional to the rate of adoption for example it is easier for citizens of Islamabad or Lahore to celebrate Valentines day but the people living in villages would not like to adopt this new practice and the reason is that it is not compatible with their values

Complexity.

The degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult in understanding and use. More is the complexity of any new idea, practice or object, more it would be difficult for the receivers to adopt that innovation for example if new tools of ploughing are difficult in their use, the farmers will be reluctant to adopt these equipment's. Another example is that of the mobile phones of Nokia. As compare to the others sets in the market, these were purchased in larger number because they are more users family

Trialability
Trialability is the degree to which an innovation is experienced on limited basis. If the people are given a chance to try the innovation to check weather it is useful for them or not, it will encourage them to adopt that change for example if there comes a new insecticide and farmers are given a sample of that product, it will be easier to convince to farmers to adopt that insect poison.
Observability.It is the degree to which the results of an innovation are observable to others. The more an innovation is seen or noticed by the people , more they are likely to develop an interest in that particular innovation.

CHANNEL

While selecting a communication channel, a lot of care must be excercised because communication channel is the means by which messages about the innovation are delivered to the individuals or any other unit of adoption.

They may be the mass media channels for example Radio, Television or Newspapers. Mass media are effective as they reach a lot of people frequently and have an ability to influence the attitude of the people on regular basis.

Similarly there are interpersonal channels. They are also very effective as they give additional points of information or clarification and can also remove the different kinds of barriers in the process of diffusion.

Mass media channels are effective at the awareness or knowledge stage of the decision process however the interpersonal and localite channels are effective at the persuasion stage similarly the mass media are more important for the early adopters and early majority while interpersonal channels are important for the late majority.

Research hs proved that the communication channels play an important role in the diffusion of innovation process.

TIME

Time is another very important element in the whole process of diffusing any new idea, practice or the object. There are two characteristics of time in this process.
1) Stages in the decision process

1.Stages in the Decision.
2.Awareness.
3.Interest.
4.Evaluation.
5.Trialability.
6.Confirmation

2) Categories of Adopters.

1)Innovators.
2)Early Adaptors
3)Early Majority.
4)Late Majority.
5)Laggards.

STAGES IN DECISION PROCESS



The innovation decision process is the one through which an individual or an organization passes for the adoption or rejection of an innovation. It includes five stages.

Awareness.
It is the foremost stage in the decision process for the adoption or rejection of the innovation. It is the time when an individual or any other unit of adoption is exposed to an innovation for example the receiver come to know that a new idea, practice or object is in the market.

Interest.
The second stage in the decision process is that an interest is developed in the individual to know more about the innovation. He tries to understand the uses and functions of that particular inoovation. This inclination or desire to know about the innovation is called interest. For example when a tractor was introduced in Pakistan, the farmers listened that there is a machine which automatically ploughs the field and that they would not have to do much efforts for ploughing. It urged them to see and use that new machine so this desire or wish comes in the context of “Interest”.

Evaluation
In the evaluation stage, people see their past, present experiences & future situation and then decide whether to try it or not. They evaluate what advantages they would gain from its usage, is it in their control or not and how much more useful is it than the thing it is replacing.

Trialability
After complete evaluation of the new innovation, it is tried on small scale and is adopted on trial basis.

Confirmation
( Adoption or Rejection )– After passing through the stages of awareness, interest, evaluation and trialabilty, the decision about the innovation ( idea, practice, or object ) is confirmed for example whether to adopt or reject the innovation.
Categories of Adopters

Following are the five categories of Adopters of any idea, practice or object.

Innovators üThey are eager to adopt new ideas.
üThey are more cosmopolite and have substantial financial resources.
üThey play an important role in the process of diffusion of innovation and are gatekeepers of this process in social system.

Early Adopters 1:They have a high degree of opinion leadership.
2:The change agents as social missionaries seek them.
3:They are role models for others.
4:These are the people who decrease the uncertainty of the innovation.



Early Majority 1:They adopt just before the average members of the social system.
2:They are a link between the early adopters and the late majority of social system.
3:They don’t posses leadership position.
4:Their motto is “Neither too Early Nor too late”
5:Deliberation before adopting the innovation.

Late Majority 1:After the average members of the social system, they adopt the innovation.
2:They usually adopt as a result of persuasion.
3:The people of this category are skeptical about the innovation.
4:Hey adopt when the social norms and values favor the innovation.

Leggards 1:These people are the last to adopt any innovation in the social system.
2:We can call them the most local people.
3:Adopt when the innovation is superseded by another innovation
4:They are suspicious about the innovation and the change agent
5:The people with lack of financial resources are also included in the category of laggards.

 

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