Answers:
The adoption of an innovation requires
that an individual or a group of consumers decide on buying a new product. The
process of diffusion starts when early adopters influence their reference group
members and other acquaintances. Therefore, it is reasonable to view adoption
as the first step in the diffusion process.
The adoption of an innovation is likely to
be a reasonably involving decision for most of those who are among the first to
buy the product and can be represented by a hierarchy-of-effects model. Thus,
the adoption process is basically a term used to describe extended decision
making by consumers when a new product, service, or idea is involved. High
involvement in product or purchase situation is likely for discontinuous
innovations. For example, the decision to buy a DVD writer or have laser eye
surgery will most likely be a high-involvement decision. Most continuous
innovations probably trigger limited decision making.