Innovation, the iPhone and becoming a Laggard

Hello again friends! We are ready to kick off another term and we are starting off strong by discussing the Diffusion of Innovation theory. So first, let's talk about what the Diffusion of Innovation theory even is. 

So, over time, an idea or product gains momentum and diffuses through a specific population or social system. The result is that people adopt this new idea or product. However, some people are more apt to adopt than others. There are five different categories of adopters. From first to adopt to last to adopt they are as followed: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.  This will make more sense shortly. Now, for the purpose of this blog, let's put this theory in terms that we can all understand by showing how it played out in my real life.

Way back in 2007, Apple came out with this crazy new innovation that they called the iPhone. I had recently gotten the "it" phone of the time, the Motorola Razr, the pink one to be exact, and now this innovative new technology was quickly threatening to take my new "cool girl" status away. Naturally I had to have this new smartphone, because I saw myself as someone who was ahead of the trends. An influencer if you will. If we are going with terms from the Diffusion of Innovation theory, I saw myself as an early adopter. I was going to be right at the beginning of the adoption curve. I wanted to try this new phone out for myself and be the one to tell my friends and classmates about how great it was. I was going to keep my "it" girl status. As a pre-teen your social status was one of the most important aspects of your life. My mother, however, did not care about my need to be the first to have this new smartphone and told me that the phone I had worked perfectly fine. 

See, my mother was a part of the late majority when it came to smart phones. Meaning she liked what she had and did not see the smartphone making her life any easier. In fact, she saw it adding difficulty so she avoided it until she knew for a fact that it was going to be worth making the swap. My mother was always slow to adopt new innovations. She was a fan of her flip phone, was in the late majority when it came to the slide up phones with the qwerty keyboards, and was on track to be a late majority candidate again for the iPhone. Touch screen? No thank you, the keypad will do just fine. Meanwhile, my eighth grade self was dying to have the latest and greatest innovation. 

My mom held out. She did not care how much I begged and pleaded with her. She made me keep that Motorola Razr through 3 different models of the iPhone. My friends' parents started buying into the smartphone buzz and they became the early majority influenced to adopt by those trend setters at their works. They worked in real estate and for IT departments and saw how the early adopters were using these new smartphones for productivity and fun. So, of course, my friends all got upgraded to iPhones. Meanwhile I was slowly slipping into the laggard category. Not by my own choosing, but because my mom had heard me beg and plead for months for the Motorola Razr and as soon as I got it, it seemed like I wanted the next best thing.

Two long years and 3 versions of iPhones later, my mom finally agreed that the iPhone was worth looking into. It had been around long enough to be tested by a good majority of her friends, and she was able to observe the benefits of it personally. So, in June of 2010, my mom catapulted me from a laggard to an early adopter in one fail swoop and bought me the iPhone 4. My "it" girl status returned and all was right in the world again. 

At the time I didn't know it, but behind the scenes, my mom had gone through the Innovation-Decision process when it came to finally making the swap over to iPhone.

1. Knowledge

My mom had awareness-knowledge when it came to the iPhone. Meaning she knew that it existed, but she was not hands on with it.

2. Persuasion

My mom was watching and learning. She was listening to what her friends and coworkers had to say about the usability of the iPhone, and she did this all while tuning out the desperate pleas of her teenage daughter.

3. Decision

In 2010 my mom made the decision to adopt the new iPhone 4. Making me one happy teenager and herself the now coolest mom on the block.

4. Implementation

We went and bought the iPhone and started using it in our every day lives. We really put it to the test in regards to compatibility for our personal needs.

5. Confirmation

Once we swapped over to the iPhone we never swapped back to anything else. We have had many different versions over the years and each one has added another convenience to our lives that we are early majority adopters for. 

Now that I am almost 30 years old, I look at this specific situation and commend my mother for sticking to her guns and letting this particular innovation truly prove it's worth before blindly following the word of others, or giving in to my pleas. While I was frustrated as a child, I can appreciate everything more as an adult. The Diffusion of Innovation theory will look different in every case and for every person. While I was ready to become an early adopter when it came to technology, my mother was not. No one person is right in these situations either. This theory allows for everyone to make decisions in their own time based on what is best for them personally. I am sure I will see this theory play out again in the future. Except this time I will be the uncool mom who is forcing her kids to become laggards.