Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition

"Now in its fifth edition, Diffusion of Innovations is a classic work on the spread of new ideas. It has sold 30,000 copies in each edition and will continue to reach a huge academic audience. In this renowned book, Everett M. Rogers, professor and chair of the Department of Communication & Journalism at the University of New Mexico, explains how new ideas spread via communication channels over time. Such innovations are initially perceived as uncertain and even risky. To overcome this uncertainty, most people seek out others like themselves who have already adopted the new idea. Thus the diffusion process consists of a few individuals who first adopt an innovation, then spread the word among their circle of acquaintances--a process which typically takes months or years. But there are exceptions: use of the Internet in the 1990s, for example, may have spread more rapidly than any other innovation in the history of humankind. Furthermore, the Internet is changing the very nature of diffusion by decreasing the importance of physical distance between people. The fifth edition addresses the spread of the Internet, and how it has transformed the way human beings communicate and adopt new ideas."

Since the first edition of this landmark book was published in 1962,

Everett Rogers's name has become "virtually synonymous with the study

of diffusion of innovations," according to Choice. The second and

third editions of Diffusion of Innovations became the standard

textbook and reference on diffusion studies. Now, in the fourth

edition, Rogers presents the culmination of more than thirty years of

research that will set a new standard for analysis and inquiry.

The fourth edition is (1) a revision of the theoretical framework and

the research evidence supporting this model of diffusion, and (2) a

new intellectual venture, in that new concepts and new theoretical

viewpoints are introduced. This edition differs from its predecessors

in that it takes a much more critical stance in its review and

synthesis of 5,000 diffusion publications. During the past thirty

years or so, diffusion research has grown to be widely recognized,

applied and admired, but it has also been subjected to both

constructive and destructive criticism. This criticism is due in large

part to the stereotyped and limited ways in which many diffusion

scholars have defined the scope and method of their field of study.

Rogers analyzes the limitations of previous diffusion studies,

showing, for example, that the convergence model, by which

participants create and share information to reach a mutual

understanding, more accurately describes diffusion in most cases than

the linear model.

Rogers provides an entirely new set of case examples, from the

Balinese Water Temple to Nintendo videogames, that beautifully

illustrate his expansive research, as well as a completely revised

bibliography covering all relevant diffusion scholarship in the past

decade. Most important, he discusses recent research and current

topics, including social marketing, forecasting the rate of adoption,

technology transfer, and more. This all-inclusive work will be

essential reading for scholars and students in the fields of

communications, marketing, geography, economic development, political

science, sociology, and other related fields for generations to come.