How Can Businesses Succeed? Understanding Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory, the Five Stages of the Innovation Adoption Curve, and Their Applications for Startups and Entrepreneurs
This article explores the basics of Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory, which outlines the five stages of innovation adoption and the innovation adoption curve. The theory has been widely used in marketing, public health, and social policy to facilitate the adoption of new practices and ideas.
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The article also presents a fun and educational example of how Blackbeard, the Latin American pirate with Andalusian Blood, used the theory to innovate with a new product.
This series aims to provide accessible and didactic language for startups and entrepreneurs to effectively introduce and market new ideas and technologies, and the next articles will talk about ChatGTP and Rihanna’s fenty beauty.
Introduction
Welcome to the first of three articles about Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory, which you may have encountered in books and TED Talks, such as Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why”. In this series, I aim to delve deeper into the theory, using accessible and didactic language. This theory played a vital role in my Master’s Thesis on the Adoption of Artificial Intelligence, and it proved helpful when mentoring startups. My interpretation, aided by ChatGTP, will be presented across three articles. The first article will focus on the theory itself, while the second will explore its application in ChatGTP’s launch and rise. Finally, the third article will examine its use in successful companies like Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty. To make things more interesting, we’ll introduce a new character, the Pirate BlackBeard, who will use examples to illustrate the theory in a fun and educational manner. I hope you enjoy this series as much as I do. Love, Chris.
Understanding Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory, the Five Stages of the Innovation Adoption Curve, and Their Applications for Startups and Entrepreneurs
According to Rogers, the diffusion process can be categorized into five stages, namely knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. The speed of adoption depends on several factors, including the perceived advantage of the innovation, its compatibility with existing values, its complexity, and the influence of opinion leaders. This theory has been widely used in various fields, such as marketing, public health, and social policy, to facilitate the adoption of new practices and ideas.
Rogers’ theory of diffusion of innovation is best known for the innovation adoption curve, which outlines the different groups of users who adopt an innovation over time. This curve can be broken down into five groups:
Innovators — These are the pioneers who are the first to adopt new innovations. They are risk-takers and make up around 2.5% of the population.
Early adopters — This group consists of opinion leaders who are respected by others and sought after for advice. They make up around 13.5% of the population.
Early majority — The early majority is made up of pragmatic individuals who are open to new ideas and willing to try them out once they have been proven effective. They account for around 34% of the population.
Late majority — The late majority is composed of skeptical individuals who are slow to adopt new technologies until they are widely accepted. They make up around 34% of the population.
Laggards — Laggards are the final group to adopt an innovation. They are resistant to change and account for around 16% of the population.
Understanding the five stages of diffusion and the innovation adoption curve is crucial for businesses and innovators to effectively introduce and market new ideas and technologies.
Now let us see all this from the perspective of a Pirate!
Blackbeard and the Innovation Adoption Curve
Once upon a time, in the high seas of innovation, there was a pirate called Blackbeard. Latin American with Andalusian blood, he had learned about the importance of education since childhood and developed a deep love for books. One day, while navigating through the calm coast of Brazil, he read a book by a wise man named Everett Rogers about a new theory. This theory stated that new ideas and technologies spread through a social system in a specific pattern.
Blackbeard’s Discovery: CrystalGTP and the Five Stages of Diffusion
At that time, while reading Rogers’ Innovation Lullaby, Blackbeard fell asleep…but just for 30 seconds, because soon a sailor burst into his office screaming: “Blackbeard, we found something shining on a rock!” Angry with the screams but happy to be able to use his newest acquisition, Blackbeard took his new Oakley Spyglass and, feeling like an athlete in search of dopamine, looked towards the island. He could not believe what he saw and started to scream:
“Shine bright like a diamond.”
“Shine bright like a diamond.”
The sailors did not really understand, but as good sailors, they started to sing Rihanna’s hit:
“Find light in the beautiful sea.”
“I choose to be happy.”
“You and I, you and I.”
“ We’re like diamonds in the sky.”
(…)
So Blackbeard screamed again: “No, stupids, something is shining on the island and it looks like a real and big diamond. Take the boat, go to that island and take all the shining diamonds!” After a few hours, the sailors came back with unhappy faces. “We took it all, but it does not look like a diamond…” Opening the sailors’ bags, Blackbeard found some Crystal Balls. Those were the shining things he saw earlier. Looking with a little bit of attention, he found a paper with some instructions: “CrystalGTP. This is your brand new Crystal Ball Generative Pre-trained Transformer, brought to you by OpenMagicians Incorporated. Touch the ball with your hands and ask me anything. But ask it fast, before they block our magic services in your country.” Mama Mia!
Blackbeard, the Innovator
All the sailors thought that Blackbeard would become angry discovering that Crystal Balls were not diamonds, but he became happy. The Andalusian blood that ran in his veins had a lot of magic in it, so he believed in the CrystalGTP (and, feeling this, immediately remembered Rogers’ theory. More than a lullaby… The CrystalGTP was aligned with his values and practices). He tried to get more knowledge about the innovation. It was scarce, but no problem, his brain started to think about applications and he self-persuaded himself to use the CrystalGTP.
He decided to use it to navigate. He asked Crys G (nicknamed his new friend because “G” is cooler than “GTP,” as he remembered Old G, old Gangsta) where to go, how to avoid rocks in the ocean, where to find treasures, and where he could find the best sugarcane to make rum. And so, remembering Rogers’ old theory, he implemented the innovation and confirmed its value. Now, as an innovator, he will spread the news.
The Early Adopters from the Marvelous City
After this trip, Blackbeard returned to his refuge, the Marvelous City, located on the South American coast. He sailed down and went up into the hills. Back in the hood, Blackbeard received a wonderful recipe for rum from Crys G and started making it. He made, drank, and sold it. Many people around the hood became interested in that marvelous rum and, of course, in the pirate’s travel stories. While sharing those adventures with their neighborhood friends, Blackbeard started a new business renting out Crys G. He sold 3 questions for $5. (not so new, fortune tellers, strategic consulting firms, but…) Everybody loved it because it was cheap and could help them a lot. People started to ask about anything, from disease diagnosis to how to start a business and get rich. And so, Blackbeard, an innovator for his courage and availability to try new things in this field, and an influencer for sharing those stories, spread the innovation to early adopters, just as Mr. Rogers’ theory predicted.
And it spread to the rest of the curve in the same way.
That’s it for now. Soon, I will share the other two articles about this theory applied to ChatGTP and Fenty Beauty.
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Interesting Links:
Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory
