Gaining Acceptance for Ideas: Five Qualities for Diffusion of Innovations

By Roger L. Firestien

Originally appeared in the International Creativity Network Newsletter, volume 3, number 1, 1993, pages 3, 12.

About twenty years ago, the mayor of a local city had a vision for what his community could be like in the future. He wanted to capitalize on the close proximity of his city to the Buffalo area to one of the seven wonders of the world, Niagara Falls. He researched his ideas thoroughly, examined the population base in the area, investigated the amount of tourist traffic and concluded that the area could support a number of attractions. Then he went to the city council with his ideas which included the construction of a wave pool, golf courses, a science center and other innovative plans for the community.

The overwhelming response of the city council was. . . No. "It's too expensive. We can't afford that now. Our city is too small. It will never work. Your ideas are much too progressive for our community."

Years passed, and all of the things that the mayor suggested were adopted in other areas by other communities. As a result of the common council's short sightedness, millions of dollars in business and tax revenue went elsewhere.

A man ahead of his time? Probably, but leaders, looking toward the future, often have ideas that appear ahead of their time. In fact, a new idea by its very nature is ahead of its time.

Other than having a more open minded, future focused city council, what might the mayor have done to persuade the council of the value of his foresight? Or what can you do, for that matter, when you need to explicitly and systematically show the value of your idea to other people in your organization or community?

Everett M. Rogers is an expert on the diffusion of innovations. He has researched how people adopt new products, services or lifestyle practices. Rogers has investigated the diffusion of such innovations as the adoption of birth control practices in third world countries to the infusion of personal computers across America. In his research he isolated five qualities of innovations that help to speed their acceptance and subsequent adoption. Those attributes are: (1) Relative Advantage; (2) Compatibility; (3) Complexity; (4) Trialability; and (5) Observability.

Relative Advantage is a measure of how much better an innovation is than the idea or product it replaces. This is one of the most common and most effective approaches to selling an idea. The idea must clearly illustrate its advantages in terms of low cost, decrease in discomfort or savings in time and effort. Perhaps our mayor could have illustrated the long term benefits of these projects and the projected annual increase in revenues. He might have also illustrated how convenient these attractions would be to the cityıs citizens and the prestige they would bring the community.

Compatibility. Is your idea consistent with the values, past experiences and needs of those individuals or groups that will potentially adopt it? It is highly unlikely that you will purchase a product or change aspects of your lifestyle that are against your values. It is much more likely that you will adopt innovations that are consistent with them. Recycling is an excellent example of compatibility. Many more people recycle their refuse or purchase environmentally safe products than they did in the past because these products are compatible with current values of conserving our planet.

Complexity is how difficult it is to understand or use an innovation. Be careful with this one! The more complex your idea appears to be, the less likely it will be accepted. Keep it simple. Probably one of the best examples of keeping it simple and a successful product launch is the Macintosh computer. Remember when you were terrified of using a computer because it was so complicated? Macintosh's main selling point was "if you can point, you can use this computer. " Millions of dollars in sales later, the competition finally caught on.

Trialability is the quality of an innovation that allows the potential adopters or customers to experiment with the idea on a limited basis before "buying it. " Test driving a new car is an excellent example of trialability. However, if your idea is not something that can be "test driven," it is important to find a way to allow your customers to experiment with the idea on a limited basis. Perhaps the mayor in our scenario could have invited representatives from other communities who had built these projects to address the city council. Or he could have initiated a pilot project, developed in stages, to determine its viability. If the pilot was successful, additional phases of the project could then be completed. The question to keep in mind here is: "How can your potential adopters try before they buy?"

Finally, observability is the characteristic of an innovation that makes it visible to other people. If you are selling an intangible idea or concept, such as life insurance, what is the visible result of what you are buying? In what ways can you make the results tangible? Can people actually see the results? How about a model? Can you take your potential customers to other locations that have adopted the idea so they can see it in action? Remember: "seeing is believing."

Whether you are a mayor, a corporate president, a salesperson or a parent, the next time you try to convince someone else of the value of your idea, product or service, take some time to systematically examine it in light of Rogers' research. Use the five diffusion qualities as a checklist to improve your strategy to increase the chances of others supporting and adopting your idea.

Copyright Roger L. Firestien. Contact Information: Roger L. Firestien, Center for Studies in Creativity, Buffalo State College, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Chase Hall 244, Buffalo, NY 14222.