Diffusion of Innovations

 When we began learning about Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations theory my first thought was how it might apply to the COVID vaccine. This is a very new innovation in our county and the world, and I wanted to examine it and see how it could connect the bell curve to try to understand why people might or might not get vaccinated. 

 

Looking at the vaccine using Rogers’ theory, I would describe the innovators as the people who created the vaccine and the people who were willing to be test subjects for it. 

 

Then you have the early adopters. I would say these are the people who got vaccinated right after it received the first approvals. In this case it was mostly people that were not afraid to get it and were willing to take the risks. Many of these people were at high risk for severe affects from Covid, so they were willing to try the new innovation. 

 

Next we have the early majority, when the vaccine was available to a lot more people and everyone who wanted to could get it. It was widely available and more research was also available which gave people the confidence to try it. 

 

According to Rodgers’ theory, next you have the late majority. These are the people who get it after it's been available to everyone and they've seen how many people get it. Additionally, the vaccine has received additional approvals which led to more people being willing to take it. With 62 percent of eligible Americans fully vaccinated, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/world/covid-cases-hospitalization.html I think we are now I think we are in the late majority at least in the United States. Some other countries such as Portugal, who currently has a 84 percent of its population vaccinated are reaching the point of the laggard stage. https://fortune.com/2021/09/25/portugal-leads-the-world-in-covid-19-vaccinations/

 

I also thought that Rodgers’ idea about adoption strategies can be seen with the rollout of the Covid vaccine. When it was first being presented to the public, government leaders and other key figures received their vaccines publicly to provide confidence and motivation for others. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/pence-set-receive-covid-vaccine-televised-appearance-n1251655. There have also been significant pushes to persuade people to get vaccinated by utilizing social media influencers. https://coloradosun.com/2021/09/01/coronavirus-vaccine-social-media-influencers/

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/health/2021/08/02/white-house-enlists-army-of-social-media-influencers-to-promote-covid-19-vaccines. This has definitely had an impact on how quickly the United States got to the late majority stage. We are also starting to see mandates, both by the government and private companies, which I think will help as we enter the laggard stage. https://fortune.com/2021/08/23/companies-requiring-vaccines-workers-vaccination-mandatory/

 

I found it very interesting to examine the Covid vaccine in conjunction with Rogers’ theory and will be interested to see how quickly the United States does get to the laggard stage and how we compare to the rest of the world.