Discuss the AIETA Model as presented by Everett Rogers in his work Diffusion of Innovation

Communication has played and continues to have significant role in everyday life. Whatever form the communication takes brings about changes in individuals, societies, groups and the likes. The interesting nature of this field has therefore led to a number of theories being propounded by various scholars to measure the rate of changes or the way and manner people responds to various concepts.

One of such was the theory that examines how people receive and responds to innovations.

Everett Rogers and Floyed Shoemaker in their work Communication of Innovations: A Cross-Cultural Approach defines Innovation as an idea, practice or object perceived as new by an individual. They opined that “It matters little, so far as human behavior is concerned, whether or not an idea is objectively new as measured by the lapse of time since its first use or discovery”.  

  

Diffusion on the other hand is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system.

Over the years, a number of models were developed by various scholars to explain the various processes that individuals go through to finally make a decision to adopt innovations.

Among the models include AIDA (Affection, Interest, Decision, Action), DAGMAR (Awareness, Comprehension, Conviction, Action, Result).

But Everett Rogers’ work in 1962 in his book “Diffusion of Innovation” has been widely accepted by many.

According to Everett Rogers, the acceptance or otherwise of any new idea, practice or object is dependent on individuals decision to make; but this decision is not taken in a vacuum. It is informed by certain prevailing factors.

Everett Rogers reveals that adoption of innovation does not happen overnight rather the individual goes through certain stages to make a decision.

In developing a model for diffusion of innovation, Everett Rogers identified five processes that individuals go through.

1- Knowledge

2-Persuasion

3-Decision

4-Implementation

5-Confirmation

First and foremost, the individual has to be exposed to the innovation. That is getting knowledge of the existence of such a new idea, practice or object. A person becomes aware of an innovation through the mass media or inter-personal interactions with other people around him or her.

Persuation-Having been exposed to innovation, the thought of it makes the individual to develop an attitude towards the innovation which can either be positive or negative. 

Decision-Decision is then taken where a person engages in activities that lead to a choice to adopt or reject the innovation.

Implementation – This step become very significant to test the suitability, efficacy or usefulness of the innovation. It is only at this point that the individual can be sure the innovation meets his needs or expectations.

Confirmation – Person evaluates the results of an innovation-decision already made. This become the final stage when the person adopts and keep to the innovation

Later in 1977, Krugman developed the AIETA model of how potential consumers are likely to respond to new products. His model was based on Everett Rogers’ model of Diffusion of Innovation.  

AIETA is an abbreviation of the five stages; each alphabet represents one stage.

1. Awareness: the individual is exposed to the existence of the innovation. Knowledge of the product or idea is acquired and it ends there. There is no other information beyond its existence and some idea of its benefits.

2. Interest: the prospect becomes interested, seeks information, and begins to gather details.

3. Evaluation: the prospect imagines him- or herself using the product

4. Trial: Experimentation is carried out on the innovation on a small scale in an effort to become intimate with it and learn how to use it to his or her best advantage.

5. Adoption: the prospect begins large-scale use, which hopefully leads to preference, satisfaction, and repeat purchases.

REFERENCES:

Everett Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations. 1962:17-18.

Melvin L. DeFleur, Mass Communication Theories: explaining origins, process, and effects.2010:228-229

Everett Rogers, (1976), New Product Adoption and Diffusion. Journal of Consumer Research, 2(March) 290-301.

Diffusion of Innovations, by Everett Rogers (1995), Reviewed by Greg Orr, March 18, 2003

www.5metacom.com

WHY SHOULD A COMPANY LIKE COCA COLA CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE?

George E. Belch & Michael A. Belch define advertising as any paid form of non-personal presentation and promoting of ideas, goods and services through the mass media with an identifiable sponsor.

The place of advertising in marketing cannot be under estimated since of all the marketing mix; product, price, place and promotion, advertising plays an important function in the promotion mix. It is the communication tool usually adopted by marketing to reach out to its targeted audience especially those institutions targeting mass consumers.

Promotion here refers to the coordination of all seller initiated efforts to set up channels of information and persuasion in order to sell goods and services or promote an idea.

According to the Business Dictionary continuous advertising is a marketing strategy in which the consumers of goods or services are continuously reminded of it even during periods its sales are insignificant or unlikely.

With this in mind, it will be unwise for companies especially well established ones with well known brand names like Coca cola with many years of experience to seize advertising because continuous advertising comes with a lot of advantages to the company.

Among them include:

Increase awareness. There are many more individuals out there that the company needs to reach out to increase sales. Besides competition is getting keener by the day with new competing products being introduced into the market, hence need to keep reminding consumers of the existence of the coca cola brands of products.

Secondly, continuous advertising is important to introduce new products. Coca cola has more than one product and continue to add more to its range of products. It is therefore reasonable to get the public informed any time the company introduces new products. Advertising is therefore designed to suit and appeal to the targeted consumers.

Furthermore, it is used to announce a change. Continuous advertising is important to provide information to customers about changes in quality of existing products designed to respond better to their needs and for which reason they should even purchase the product more.

Another reason is to alter the attitudes of people. An effectual advertisement results in a swift change in the attitudes and habits of the people.

Take care of customers. Advertising takes care of customers. It helps in holding on to the loyal customer, decreasing the number of lost customers and enlisting new customers. Thus the overall effect of advertising is increase in the number of customers that will gradually become loyal to the product.

It also worth noting that, every responsible company should be interested in the welfare of its customers and must put in measures to protect consumers. Intense competition and quest for money has led introduction of imitation of products and the worse hit are famous brands like Coca-Cola hence consumers who trust the Coca-Cola brand for example is obliged to educate its consumers of the features that help them to differentiate quality from fake products.

Advertising is also used to provide information on other undertakings the company is engaged in. Coca-Cola is without doubt a big brand with several branches across the world. Their publics therefore expect them to also do well with their social responsibilities as a way of giving back to society. This also attracts a lot of customers to them hence they need to inform the public about it through advertisement and to attract beneficiaries. Example of this is the involvement of MTN, a communication provider in Ghana in its “21 days of Yellow” where they assist schools with classroom blocks.

These reasons provided above among others therefore provide a strong case for companies especially those with strong financial base to make budget for continuous advertising though the cost involved may be huge.

Reference

George E. Belch & Michael A. Belch, 8th Edition, Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective.

www.businessdictionary.com

http://inventors.about.com/od/advertisingmedia/a/effective_marke.htm