Why and how innovations get adopted: a tale of four models

By Richard R. Nelson, A. Peterhansl, Bhaven N. Sampat. 2004

114 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Scholars studying innovation have proposed several different models of the adoption process. This essay identifies two broad dimensions which differentiate the principal models: the strength of the evidence regarding an innovation's efficacy and the extent of increasing returns. In this essay, we propose that differences across these dimensions map to four models of the adoption/diffusion process prominent in the literature. We then analyze the diffusion patterns of six well-studied innovations in terms these variables, and discuss which models seems to fit them best. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.

Subfields: Economics and Econometrics, Management Science and Operations Research, Strategy and Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/14b056ab9b8b7218c336a55223d494cb5bc33b46

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Economics and Econometrics

In Management Science and Operations Research

In Strategy and Management

Citations in the corpus

Schumpeter, Winter, and the sources of novelty (2006, background): “Diffusion research casts some light on the way the incremental spread of routines sometimes leads to wide adoption and notable persistence in routines (Fischer, 1989; Vincenti, 1994; Nelson et al., 2004).”