The process and rate by which a new innovation, idea, or concept is adopted in a market is an important consideration for marketers. Individuals are thought to go through a hierarchy of awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, adoption, and post purchase evaluation when making purchase decisions. Different consumers will be at different stages of their decision process at any given time, and will differ in the time it takes to complete that process and adopt an innovation. Diffusion of innovation is the aggregate of all individual decision processes and reflects the pattern and rate at which a new product, service, or idea catches on and is adopted by society.

Studies in anthropology and sociology, primarily relating to diffusion of farming technology, found that diffusion patterns often approximate a normal distribution. Using 1, 2, and 3 standard deviations (sd.) from the mean or average rate of adoption to classify consumers, we can identify five categories:

Innovators -- the 2.5% of people who are the first to adopt a new innovation.

Early Adopters --the 13.5% of people who are fast followers (they tend to be opinion leaders)

Early and Late Majority -- the 68% of the people who wait until the innovation is proven (they also tend to be more price sensitive and risk adverse).

Laggards - the 16% of people who are late to, or never, adopt an innovation

These percentages have been found to apply in many contexts but marketers often conduct research to track the rate of diffusion in their industry. Some products are fads, others are instant busts. Some products take years to be adopted, others run their life cycle in a matter of months. Some of the factors that affect the rate at which an innovation is adopted by society include:

Individual Factors

Product Factors

Environmental Factors