A study of the adoption of hybrid corn seed in Iowa by Ryan and Gross (1943) solidified the prior work on diffusion into a distinct paradigm that would be cited consistently in the future. Agriculture technology was advancing rapidly, and researchers started to examine how independent farmers were adopting hybrid seeds, equipment, and techniques. The study of diffusion of innovations took off in the subfield of rural sociology in the midwestern United States in the 1920s and 1930s. The concept of diffusion was first studied by the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde in late 19th century and by German and Austrian anthropologists and geographers such as Friedrich Ratzel and Leo Frobenius. The criterion for the adopter categorization is innovativeness, defined as the degree to which an individual adopts a new idea. Diffusion manifests itself in different ways and is highly subject to the type of adopters and innovation-decision process. The categories of adopters are innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. This gap between niche appeal and mass (self-sustained) adoption was originally labeled "the marketing chasm" theorized that this point lies at the boundary between the early adopters and the early majority. In 1989, management consultants working at the consulting firm Regis Mckenna Inc. Within the rate of adoption, there is a point at which an innovation reaches critical mass. The innovation must be widely adopted in order to self-sustain. This process relies heavily on social capital. Rogers proposes that five main elements influence the spread of a new idea: the innovation itself, adopters, communication channels, time, and a social system. The origins of the diffusion of innovations theory are varied and span multiple disciplines. Rogers argues that diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated over time among the participants in a social system. The theory was popularized by Everett Rogers in his book Diffusion of Innovations, first published in 1962. The blue curve is broken into sections of adopters.ĭiffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. With successive groups of consumers adopting the new technology (shown in blue), its market share (yellow) will eventually reach the saturation level. Therefore, the subjects in such a system accept their right to rule.The diffusion of innovations according to Rogers. In a system that allocates authority through legal means, those who rule have, or at least supposedly have, a legitimate right to do so based on written law. Legal authority develops true systems of laws and regulations that lead to written legal codes and rights that moderate the state’s role. This legitimising force rests on the belief in the legality of the rules put in place by the leader or state, and the right of those given authority to command. The devotion of subjects towards the charismatic leader is directed entirely towards the person and their qualities. This, for Weber, is where the notion of politics as a vocation is at its strongest. Weber was particularly focused on this type of justification, believing it to be more powerful than traditional or legal justifications. Whether this is true is beside the point subjects just have to believe it to be true. Subjects may deem this person to have supernatural or exceptional qualities that justify their power. That is also to say that the leader is justified due to their charisma: the aspects of their personality that are deemed extraordinary. Max Weber: Charismatic AuthorityĪ charismatic leader, on the other hand, is not obeyed due to custom or habit, yet is chosen by the people to lead. Unless commonly accepted social or religious customs are challenged, it is likely those with traditional authority remain dominant. Weber argues that traditional authority both creates and perpetuates inequality. Adherence to traditional principles is what guarantees the authority of traditional leaders.Įxamples of traditional authority include gerontocracy (authority of elders) or patriarchy (male authority based on sex). Traditional authority is maintained through the claim of leaders, and the belief of their subjects, that there is something of value in long-standing social rules. This justification is based on the idea that traditionally powerful groups or people maintain their power due to habit or cultural acceptance of the hierarchy.
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