The future of diffusion research

Abstract

It has been over six years since the last DATA BASE special issue on Diffusion of IT. In that dou- ble issue (Vol. 26, Nos. 2 & 3) edited by Mary Prescott, a key point was that the general innova- tion diffusion model articulated by Rogers (1983, 1995) provided a viable framework for studying IT innovation diffusion. The viewpoint expressed was that Diffusion-based research has and will continue to provide a rewarding base for expanding our understanding of IT adoption, implementation, and infusion (p. 19). Further- more, Prescott noted that the incorporation of related theory might yield distinctive IT innovation theory distinct from traditional IT theory. Research presented in that issue focused on the fact that different factors may come into play con- tingent on the level of analysis. In particular, those articles examined adoption of group support sys- tems, role of user involvement with the implemen- tation process versus innovation product, factors influencing telework among IS professionals, and factors that influence CASE tool adoption. When examined in total, it became apparent that those research papers provided a general consensus that greater methodological rigor coupled with developing new theoretical insights may eventual- ly provide a new understanding that can return to influence the referent disciplines from which the original work was based. In fact, Prescott sug- gested a potential new beginning where disparate areas such structuration, cultural, economic, and political theories are integrated into the diffu- sion perspective. Echoing this perspective is Fichman's recent statement that as researchers have considered the many distinctive characteristics of IT innova- tions, there has been a corresponding effort to develop more sophisticated models that go beyond traditional approaches - to incorporate the effects of institutions, knowledge barriers, increasing returns, adaptive structuration, and social bandwagons, to name a few. A rich oppor- tunity exists to confirm these promising streams and to synthesize them into more complex and realistic models of IT innovation diffusion and assimilation (2000, p. 127). We not only concur with these preceding per- spectives, but further suggest that the future of Diffusion research lays in extending its models into concepts, constructs, and issues so that they specifically relate to technological usage in 8 The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems -Summer 2001 (Vol. 32, No. 3)