An empirical analysis of innovation adopter categories among Internet users: A generalized reassessment of the distribution of innovation adopters.

摘要

Past study of innovation diffusion has primarily focused on the innovation and the social system in which it is employed. This study looks at the distribution of innovator categories described by Everett M. Rogers. The accepted distribution and characteristics of these categories established by Rogers are based upon studies of agricultural innovators conducted fifty or more years ago. With the opening of a new century and with the encouragement of Dr. Everett M. Rogers, this research re-visits the distribution of adopter categories. A survey of users of the Internet was used to reassess the characteristics of the adopter categories and to statistically establish the distribution of adopters in the current population of Internet adopters. This study finds that in the adopter population studied the assumption of a normally distributed population of innovation adopters is not valid. Among users of the cluster of innovations known as the Internet the distribution of adopters is skewed towards the early majority a significant amount.