icegov2012 proceedings

1) What are the demographic characteristics, including
socioeconomic status, of female slum-dwellers who do not
own cell phones?
a) Is there a correlation between respondents’ income,
education, age, family characteristics, and facilities at
home and their lack of cell phone ownership?
2) What are the key barriers to cell phone adoption by
respondents?
3) What are the perceived consequences of and incentives for
cell phone adoption?
The second section describes the relevant theory from diffusion of
innovation literature. The third section presents the research
methodology used to collect responses from slum-dwellers in
urban and rural India. The fourth section presents the study
findings, and the final section concludes with hypotheses and
suggestions for future research, and practical implications of study
findings.
2. DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION
Diffusion is a special type of communication in which messages
are new ideas. It is a social change, defined as the “process by
which alteration occurs in the structure and function of a social
system” [2, p.6]. Social changes occur when new ideas are
invented, diffused, and are adopted or rejected. Although the cell
phone is not a new technology, it is definitely a new idea for
millions of poor in India to start using cell phones for everyday
life. The following sub-sections portray characteristics of laggards
and consequences for and incentives of innovation as described by
the diffusion of innovation theory [2].
2.1 Characteristics of Laggards
Laggards are the last in a social system to adopt an innovation.
They are conservative and “localite” in their outlook. They often
interact with those who have traditional values. They are not part
of any social network and live in their own worlds with very
limited exposure to the outside world. There are no leaders among
laggards, and they are rarely associated with any opinion leaders.
The point of reference for the laggard is always the past. They do
not believe in innovations and, hence, tend to be suspicious of
new innovations. Laggards adopt an innovation only when they
are sure about its success, since they cannot afford to lose the
investment made in any innovation.
2.2 Perceived Consequences of and Incentives
for Innovation
Consequences are the changes that occur to an individual or to a
social system as a result of the adoption or rejection of an
innovation. There are three types of consequences of diffusion of
innovation: (i) desirable versus undesirable consequences,
depending on whether the effects of an innovation in a social
system are functional or dysfunctional; (ii) direct versus indirect
consequences, depending on whether the changes to an individual
or to a social system occur in immediate response to an innovation
or as a second-order result of the direct consequences of an
innovation; and (iii) anticipated versus unanticipated
consequences, depending on whether the changes are recognized
and intended by the members of a social system or not.
There are a variety of incentives observed with the diffusion of
innovation. The incentives are as follows. Either the individual
adopter or the system associated with that adopter is benefitted
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due to the individual’s adoption of innovation. Positive incentives
like awards and rewards or negative incentives like penalties and
fines increase the rate of adoption. Monetary or social incentives
trigger the act of adoption. Immediate incentives, which are
incentives that are paid at the time of the adoption, increase
adoption rate; in contrast, delayed incentives could benefit
adopter(s) days, weeks, months, or even years after adoption.
3. RESEARCH METHODS
The current study focused on poor females living in urban and
rural slums who did not own cell phones. Two female assistants in
their 40s from the lowest socioeconomic stratum were recruited
for data collection. The assistants were literate enough to write
down responses on the survey questionnaire. The assistants were
paid 60 cents for each respondent they surveyed. The assistants
randomly distributed surveys and collected data from selected 386
slum-dwellers. Out of 386 responses, 334 responses were usable.
The data collection is still going on in rural and urban areas of
Maharashtra, one of the western states in India. The convenient
sampling of respondents limits the generalizability of study
findings.
4. FINDINGS
This section provides answers to the three research questions.
4.1 Demographic Characteristics Including
Socioeconomic Status
Out of 334 female respondents, 79 belong to rural slums and 255
live in urban slums. The average age of respondents was close to
37 years (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Age Distribution for % of Respondents
Approximately 37% of respondents were illiterate. Out of the
remaining 63% of respondents, (a) 29% of respondents dropped
out of school before 10 th grade, (b) 21% of respondents attended
school until 10 th grade, and (c) 13% of respondents attended
college. Fifty seven percent of respondents earned less than a
dollar a day, 36% of respondents earned more than a dollar a day
and less than two dollars a day, and 7% of respondents earned
more than two dollars a day. Television, in-house bathrooms, and
tap water connections were the three topmost facilities and
services enjoyed by the respondents (see Figure 3).