 Dear students, now we are going to talk about diffusion of innovation theory. Diffusion of innovation theory is in a significant perspective when we talk about technology adoption or adoption of any innovation in the society or any community. Diffusion of innovation theory was given by E. M. Rogers. He was an American communication theorist and a sociologist. DOI theory explains how over time an idea or technology gains momentum and diffuses through a specific population or a social system. This theory tells us how a technology or an idea or a behavior adapts to a population or a community member or a particular society, how it adapts to a technology. According to this theory, community members or society members, they do not simultaneously adopt any technology, but their path is different for different members of the community based on their own characteristics. So diffusion of innovation is a process whereby some people are more apt to adopt the innovation than others. This theory tells us that when we talk about adoption of technology among the community members, this theory tells us that some people in the community adopt technology as compared to others and people who adopt an innovation early had different characteristics than people who adopt an innovation later. So the people who quickly adopt an innovation or technology, their characteristics are completely different from the community group that later adopts technology or innovation. So if we make categories based on this adoption theory, the diffusion of innovation theory tells us that there are five established adopter categories and their names are innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. Now we are going to see each adopter category in a detailed manner. What kind of people are called innovators? So when we talk about technology adoption, the innovator is actually the first population group who adopt the technology. These people adopt any technology, innovation or behavior and utilize it. So what are the characteristics of these group members? These people are the first in any category. They have an urge to do any work first. Take interest in new ideas. They are open-minded people. Whenever you discuss and share ideas with them, they show interest in them. Show willingness to take risks. These people know how to take risks. They understand that they have to take risks in order to be successful in their life. They are few in numbers. So in any society, people who first adopt technology or innovation, they are very limited in numbers. Early adopters. Now let's see what are the characteristics of early adopters. These people are those who enjoy leadership roles and embrace change opportunities. They took change in a brave manner. They are aware of the need to change and very comfortable while adopting new ideas. So these are the people who know that they need to change over time. Early majority. These people are those who adopt new ideas before the average person. So the person who adopts technology or innovation before the average person, we adopt new ideas. They are those who adopt new ideas before the average person. The person who adopts technology or innovation before the average person, we call them the early majority. They see evidence that innovation works. Before adopting any technology or innovation, they check empirical evidences that it is a successful technology or innovation. They rely on success stories. They rely on success stories before adopting any technology. Late majority. These people are those who are skeptical of change and only adopt an innovation after it has been tried by the majority. So the late majority is the group of people who are skeptical of change and pessimists whenever they talk about innovation or new technology. And they only adopt any technology when the majority of the people have already adopted it. Leggards. These people are those who are bound by tradition and very conservative. So in technology adoption, the last group is called the Leggards and they are traditional people. They are conservative people. And they are bound to adopt any technology. And even if they adopt it, they are very skeptical of it. And it is the most difficult task to make this group a user of any technology or innovation. For this, you have to advertise. You have to share success stories with them. You have to share empirical evidences with them. You have to campaign so that these people can opt for technology or innovation. What are the factors when we talk about the successful adoption of any technology as per diffusion of innovation theory? The first factor is relative advantage. This is the degree to which innovation is seen as better than the idea, program or product it replaces. So the first factor in the adoption of any technology is relative advantage. When you bring a new product or new technology, it is much better than the previous one. It is much more efficient than the previous one. So this is called relative advantage. Compatibility. How consistent the innovation is with the values, experiences and needs of the potential adopters. So it is much more compatible with the community members. Will people be able to easily adopt it or not? Will they be able to do it according to the social conditions or not? This is called compatibility. Complexity. How difficult the innovation is to understand and use. If we look at it in the context of technology, technology is easy to use. The more it is adopted, the more it is difficult to use. The less it is adopted. Triability. The extent to which the innovation can be tested or experimented with before a commitment to adopt is made. So before adopting any technology or using it, what is its triability? That is how much it has been tested. This is also an important factor. Observability. The extent to which the innovation provides tangible results. So what has changed in the lives of individuals after adopting any technology? This is called tangibility. So in the successful adoption of any technology, this is an important thing. What are its tangible results? And when we talk about our electronic media or social media, it is very relevant to us. And we can see that the social media app, adoption in any society is with the same pattern. There are some early adopters, some late adopters, some innovators and some laggards.