Principles and Techniques of Veterinary and AH Extension

INNOVATIVENESS AND ADOPTER CATEGORIES

• Innovativeness is the degree to which an individual is relatively earlier in adopting new ideas rather than other members of his social system (Rogers, 2000).
• Rogers defined an adopter category as a classification of individuals within a social system on the basis of innovativeness. The categories of adopters are: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.

 

Innovators

• Innovators are the first individuals to adopt an innovation. Innovators are willing to take risks, youngest in age, have the highest social class, have great financial lucidity, very social and have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction with other innovators.

Early Adopters

• This is second fastest category of individuals who adopt an innovation. These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the other adopter categories.
• Early adopters are typically younger in age, have a higher social status, have more financial lucidity, advanced education, and are more socially forward than late adopters

Early Majority

• Individuals in this category adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time. This time of adoption is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters.
• Early Majority tend to be slower in the adoption process, have above average social status, contact with early adopters, and show some opinion leadership.

Late Majority

• Individuals in this category will adopt an innovation after the average member of the society. These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted the innovation.
• Late Majority are typically skeptical about an innovation, have below average social status, very little financial lucidity, in contact with others in late majority and early majority, very little opinion leadership.

Laggards

• Individuals in this category are the last to adopt an innovation. Unlike some of the previous categories, individuals in this category show little to no opinion leadership. These individuals typically have an aversion to change-agents and tend to be advanced in age.
• Laggards typically tend to be focused on “traditions”, have lowest social status, lowest financial fluidity,oldest of all other adopters, in contact with only family and close friends,very little to no opinion leadership.