Champions Fax Archive

THE DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION – PART 3

Volume 3, Number 6

March 23, 1998

This series of Champions Faxes is based on learnings found in The Diffusion of Innovations by Everett Rogers. Part 1 focused on the adopter categories. Part 2 suggested the characteristics of the important early adopters in a system. This fax is focused on the importance of opinion leaders in a system.

Opinion leaders influence others’ opinions about a particular innovation. If a change agent, such as a church champion, can cause the behavior of an opinion leader to adopt an innovation, the rate of adoption is much faster for the entire system.

To understand the behavior of the system and its opinion leader, Rogers suggests two words: homophily and heterophily. Homophily is the degree in which a pair of individuals who communicate are similar. In other words, do the individuals share the same position, status, educational characteristics, etc.? Heterophily is the opposite.

Surprisingly, homophily can prevent diffusion of certain ideas. New ideas usually enter a system from high status members of a network. Often innovations are bottled up at the top. In order to counteract this type of system, change agents must identify opinion leaders within each target segment to encourage adoption of new ideas by the entire system.

On the other hand, when a system contains heterophilous networks, followers in the system are drawn to opinion leaders who are more innovative, have higher socioeconomic status and more formal education.

In general, opinion leaders have greater contact with change agents and are seen as more innovative than those that follow them. They are not necessarily the innovators in the system though. If the system’s norm favor change, they are more innovative and if the norms do not favor change, then they are not as innovative.

Church Champions will recognize this factor in many of their denominations or systems.

Fortunately, openness to change in a system can be encouraged through a variety of means. Mass media communication tools such as newsletters, conferences and other media can highlight those individuals, organizations and churches that are making significant changes with great results. A constancy of vision cast from the leaders that illustrate openness to innovations can also help.

Opinion leaders are seen as being one or two steps ahead of followers while innovators are seen as being too far out ahead. To bring the whole system along, change agents must learn from the innovators and spend time encouraging opinion leaders. Prudent opinion leaders reduce uncertainty for other system members by examining closely new ideas before adoption. After they adopt, others follow.

This helps the change agent - Church Champions better manage their time and influence by prioritizing where energy should be expended on a particular innovation.