Communication of innovations: A cross-cultural approach, 2nd ed.

Abstract

This book is about the diffusion of new ideas innovations which are being made around the world. central question it addresses is how social systems are changed through the diffusion of new ideas. If 100 innovations are conceived stimultaneously 10 will spread while 90 are forgotten. processes of adoption and adaptation are examined in reference to cross-cultural similarities and differences. Diffusion research is integrated with the scientific study of human communication. Sample chapter titles are as follows: Water-Boiling in a Peruvian Village: An Example of Innovation That Failed; Traditions of Research of Diffusion; The Innovation-Decision Process; The Pill That Failed; Adopter Categories as Ideal Types; Predicting Innovations; Communication Channels; Channels by Functions in the Innovative-Decision Process; Becoming a Marijuana User; Leadership and the Multi-Step Flow of Ideas; Measuring Opinion Leadership; Changing the Guard in a Colombian Peasant Village; The Agent; Thrown Onto the Edge of Asia; Compatibility with Clients Needs; Change Agent Empathy; and Homophily and Agent-Client Contact.