A COMPARISON OF INNOVATION ADOPTION MODELS IN RELATION TO INNOVATION TYPE: THE CASE OF THE TRANSPORTATION COOPERATIVE (RATIONAL, NORMATIVE)

SUSAN LUCILLE NEWTON, Purdue University

Abstract

A major problem in the literature on innovation diffusion is the inability to account for substantial discrepancies in findings on the determinants of innovation adoption. A major source of this instability is the tendency to treat all types of innovations as equivalent units, thereby ignoring important variation that might account for differential innovativeness. This study attempts to resolve some of the dissonance by developing a framework for explaining the relationship between different adoption models and innovations which vary along the dimension of value compatibility or "radicalness." A partial test of the theoretical framework is provided by examining the applicability of one rational and one normative adoption model for a single radical (or "reorientation") innovation. The major hypothesis is that the model incorporating normative variables is better for predicting the adoption of a reorientation than the model which incorporates primarily economic utility variables. The reorientation innovation chosen for use in the study is the transportation cooperative, an innovative concept involving daily use of mini-micro cars and the joint ownership of larger vehicles for the purpose of providing more efficient household mobility. Data were collected from 300 household respondents in the Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana SMSA on their attitudes toward the desire to adopt a transportation cooperative. Multiple regression and path analysis were the primary multivariate techniques used to examine the data and test the hypothesis. Findings from the analysis provide tentative support for the major hypothesis. While there is some support for both adoption models, variables derived from a normative perspective on innovation adoption are significantly better predictors of desire to adopt a transportation cooperative than are economic utility variables. Perceived value compatibility and attitudes toward sharing vehicles are the most important predictors of the adoption decision, while potential savings from coop membership and current trip demand are relatively unimportant predictors. Theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Social research

COinS