Rogers (Everett M.)

Everett M. Rogers was a communication scholar best known for his theory of the Diffusion of Innovations. He explained how new ideas, products, or technologies spread through societies over time. According to his model, adoption follows a curve involving different groups: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. Factors influencing adoption include the innovation’s relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Rogers’ work helps us understand how things like smartphones or medical practices become widely accepted, emphasizing that social influence and communication channels are key to the adoption process.