mass-communication-theory

and 1960s, the United States competed against the Soviet Union for influence in the
developing nations. The hope was that by leading a Green Revolution and helping
them better feed themselves, America would gain their favor. But to help them do
this, the United States needed to convince peasants and rural villagers to adopt a
large number of new agricultural innovations as quickly as possible. Rogers’s information/innovation
diffusion theory became a training manual for that effort.
Change agents from around the world were brought to Michigan State University
to learn from Rogers. Many of these people became academics in their home countries,
and unlike many other U.S. theories, information/innovation diffusion theory
spread through the universities of the developing nations while agricultural innovations
were spreading in their fields. In many parts of the world, Rogers’s theory
became synonymous with communication theory.
Information/innovation diffusion theory represented an important advance
over earlier limited-effects theories. Like other classic work of the early 1960s, it
drew from existing empirical generalizations and synthesized them into a coherent,
insightful perspective. Information/innovation diffusion theory was consistent with
most findings from effects surveys and persuasion experiments, and above all, it
was very practical. In addition to guiding Third World development, it laid the
foundation for numerous promotional communication and marketing theories and
the campaigns they support even today.
But the limitations of information/innovation diffusion theory were also serious.
It had some unique drawbacks stemming from its application. For example, it
facilitated the adoption of innovations that were sometimes not well understood or
even desired by adopters. To illustrate, a campaign to get Georgia farm wives to
can vegetables was initially judged a great success until researchers found that very
few women were using the vegetables. They mounted the glass jars on the walls of
their living rooms as status symbols. Most didn’t know any recipes for cooking
canned vegetables, and those who tried using canned vegetables found that family
members didn’t like the taste. This sort of experience was duplicated around the
world; corn was grown in Mexico and rice was grown in Southeast Asia that no
one wanted to eat; farmers in India destroyed their crops by using too much fertilizer;
farmers adopted complex new machinery only to have it break down and
stand idle after change agents left. Mere top-down diffusion of innovations didn’t
guarantee long-term success.
INSTANT ACCESS
Information/Innovation Diffusion Theory
Strengths Weaknesses
1. Integrates large amount of empirical findings
into useful theory
2. Provides practical guide for information campaigns
in United States and abroad
Chapter 10 Media and Society: The Role of Media in the Social World 283
1. Is linear and source-dominated
2. Underestimates power of media, especially
contemporary media
3. Stimulates adoption by groups that don’t understand
or want the innovation
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