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Rogers (1962) is viewed as the pioneer of technology adoption research. His doctoral dissertation in 1957 studied the rural and agricultural sociology on the usage patterns of new weed spray among Iowan farmers. His theory has provided the fundamental groundwork study of adoption-diffusion literature across disciplines. Roger’s theory has

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influenced other research of adoption and diffusion (Wisdom, Chor, Hoagwood and Horwitz, 2013; Clark and Douglas, 2011; Pennington, 2004; Venkatesh et al., 2003)

Originally, DOI theory was presented in the context of the innovation adoption at the individual level. However, later Rogers (2003) argued that the characteristics of innovation could also apply at the organization level (Hameed and Counsell, 2012; Picoto, Belanger and Palma-dos-Reis, 2012). Consequently, the DOI theory has been used in many studies by firms (e.g. Ramdani, Kawalek and Lorenzo, 2009; Ramdani and Kawalek, 2007; Hussin and Noor, 2005; Premkumar and Roberts, 1999; Thong, 1999).

Rogers (2003) is often cited as one of the key proponents of diffusion and adoption in literature. Rogers (2003, p. 96) justified the continued popularity of innovation diffusion research by noting that:

‘The diffusion model is a conceptual paradigm with relevance for many disciplines. The multidisciplinary nature of diffusion research cuts across various scientific fields; diffusion provides a common conceptual ground that bridges these divergent disciplines and methodologies. There are few disciplinary limits on who studies innovation. Most social scientists are interested in social change; diffusion research offers a particularly useful means to gain such understanding because innovations are a type of communication message whose effects are relatively easy to isolate. Economists are centrally interested in growth in a society. Students of organization are concerned with processes of change within formal institutions, and how an organizational structure is altered by the introduction of a new technology. Social psychologists try to understand the sources and causes of human behaviour change. Sociologist and anthropologists share an academic interest in social change but use different methodological tools. The diffusion of innovation is of note to each of the social sciences.’

The terms ‘diffusion’ and ‘adoption’ were viewed as synonymous in some literature. The followings are the definitions given by Rogers (2003 p 5, 12):

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1. Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through various channels over time among the members of the social system.

2. Adoption is the decision to make full use of an innovation as the best course of action.

3. Innovation (technology) is an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other units of adoption.

Rogers (2003, p. 169) in his study proposes a ‘stages of innovation decision processes’. Rogers (2003) suggests that the decision about technology by the adopters is not an instantaneous act but a process that occurs over time consisting of a series of actions and decisions. Thus there are five stages of technology-decision process which are;

 Knowledge occurs when an individual (or other decision making units) is exposed to an innovation (technology) and knows how it functions.

 Persuasion occurs when an individual (or other decision making unit) forms a favourable or unfavourable attitude towards the technology.

 Decision occurs when an individual (or other decision making unit) becomes engaged in activities which concluded in the decision of implementing or rejecting the innovation.

 Implementation occurs when an individual (or other decision making unit) moves an innovation into use.

 Confirmation occurs when an individual (or other decision making unit) would like to seek re-enforcement for a technology decision already made, or reverse a previous decision to adopt or reject the technology.

Rogers (2003) also proposes a set of innovation attributes that can influence technology adoption. It has been the main contribution of the DOI theory. DOI theory suggests that the innovation decision process (persuasion) possesses certain attributes, perceived by adopters who determine the adoption of innovation (Ozturk, 2010). Yoon (2009) indicates that the innovation attributes help to reduce a potential uncertainty in adopter’s innovation adoption regarding the perceived benefits of the innovation. Rogers (2003) reveals that innovations have been perceived as having more relative advantages, compatibility,

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observability and trialability, and having less complexity so they will be rapidly adopted than others. Rogers (2003, p. 15, 16) introduces five innovation (technology) attributes that affect the adoption of technology defined as follows;

 Relative advantages is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as being better than its precursor

 Compatibility is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as being consistent with the existing values, needs and past experiences of potential adopters.

 Complexity is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and use.

 Observability is the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to others.

 Trialability is the degree to which the technology may be experimented with before adoption.

Further discussion on the technology decision stages and factors that influence the innovation decision process are included in chapter three of the theoretical framework development. Figure 2.1 shows a model of stages in the innovation decision process developed by Rogers (2003).

Figure 2.2: A model of stages in the innovation-decision process

Figure 2.1: Model of stages in the innovation decision process developed by Rogers Source: Rogers, 2003, p. 170

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Rogers’ theory is one of the most pervasive and one of the earliest theories of technology adoption that explain adoption process that progresses in several stages. It is the most referred theory in technology adoption due to its well-developed concept and large number of empirical results. Consequently, the innovation-decision process was selected in this study because its represents the sequential stages of the adoption of technology and it chart a progression of activities during the adoption process (Seligman, 2006). Concerning the theoretical contribution, the use of the stages of adoption allows the researcher to develop an understanding of the issues affecting decisions stages related to the adoption and usage of technology. Moreover, this theory serves as foundation to understand the factors that influence the process of technology decision, namely relative advantages, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability. Further reviews on the stages of technology decision process and the technology attributes influencing the stages are presented in (3.1.1) and (3.3.1).