Patrol Target Creation

Instead of focusing entirely on individual decision makers or social structures, the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory in this research places emphasis on innovation as an agent of behaviour change, with innovation defined as “an idea practice, or object perceived as new (Rogers 2003). Originally published in 1962, building particularly

Preservation &

conservation of environment

Humans

Uncontrolled activities of humans

on the environment

Sustainable Healthy Environment

Environment

Destruction of the Environment

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on rural sociology research into the uptake of agricultural technology in the United States of America, the theory has been subsequently been very widely applied to issues including marketing, development and health (Greenhalgh, Robert, Macfarlane, Bate & Kyriakidou, 2004).

The theory postulates that change spread in a population through a normal distribution of willingness to accept new ideas. The labels of the distribution include innovators (2.5%) of the population, early adopters (13.5%) early majority (34%) late majority (34%) and laggards (16%).

Time of Adoption of Innovation

Fig. 5: Diffusion of Innovation Theory Source: Adapted from Rogers 2003

Innovators: These are people who want to be the first to try the innovation. They are venturesome, opinion leaders, educated and are technology enthusiasts. These people are very willing to take risks, and they enjoy tinkering with innovations and mastering their intricacies. Very little, if anything, needs to be done to appeal to this population.

Early Adopters: These are people who represent opinion leaders. They enjoy leadership roles, and embrace chance opportunities. They are already aware of the need to change and so are very comfortable adopting new ideas. Strategies to appeal to this population include how-to manuals and information sheets on implementation.

Early adopters tend to be more economically successful, well connected and well informed and hence more socially respected. Also what early adopters say about an innovation determines its success.

Early Adopters 13.5%

Early Majority 34%

Late Majority 34%

Laggards 16%

2.5%

Innovators

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Early Majority: These are pragmatists who adopt new technology when its benefits are proven. They typically need to see evidence that the innovation works before they are willing to adopt it. They want to hear “industry standard” and “endorsed by normal, respectable folks”. Strategies to appeal to this population include success stories and evidence of the innovation‟s effectiveness.

Late Majority: These people are skeptical of change, of lower socio-economic status and are conservative pragmatists who hate risk and are uncomfortable with new innovation. They will only adopt an innovation after it has been tried by the majority.

Strategies to appeal to this population include information on how many other people have tried the innovation and have adopted it successfully.

Laggards: These people are bound by tradition and very conservation. They are very skeptical of change, the hardest group to bring on board and the last to adopt an innovation. Strategies to appeal to this population include statistics, fear appeals and pressure from people in the other groups.

Diffusion of innovation is applied to this study because new methods of waste disposal trickle down from develop countries to less developed countries. The developed countries have efficient waste management policies, which are gradually being adopted in other countries of the world (expansion diffusion). With the present technological advancement and the trend towards globalization, waste management in Nigeria a typical developing nation will improve over time. Diffusion of innovation posits four “main elements of behaviour change” innovation, communication system, time and social systems (Ismail, 2006; Rogers, 2003; Greenhalgh, et al 2018).

As Rogers (2003) notes:

“Diffusion is a process in which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. It is a special type of communication in that the message are concerned with new ideas” (P. 48).

According to DIO theory, behaviour will change more rapidly if innovations are perceived as being better than previous options (relative advantage) and consistent with the easy to understand (complexity), testable via limited trials (trialability) and

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their results are visible (observability). Different information exchange relationships (communication channels) have specific impacts in terms of innovation diffusion.

This study discussed the four main elements of behaviour change (Rogers, 2003), thus:

i. Innovation

An idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption (Rogers, 1983). It includes all sets of products and services which are new or old but present an unexampled use for the user when he uses it or simply when a user perceives it to be new in terms of use, it becomes an innovation.

ii. Communication Systems

The communication system is a channel through which users share the information with each other. It is a means that handles the to and fro movement of the information between users. The better and faster a communication system, the quicker the diffusion of innovations. Rogers has classified the communication systems into Mass Media and Interpersonal channels. While mass media can disperse information more rapidly, Rogers believes that it is the interpersonal channel that is more important for the diffusion of new innovations or technology. On the other hand, “diffusion is a very social process that involves interpersonal communication relationships” (Rogers, 2003).

iii. Time

The time aspect of the innovation diffusion process actually records adopter categorization and rate of adoptions. It measures the clock from the moment of the creation of an innovation till it ceases to be one. It registers the pace with which the innovation is diffused into a society and adopted by different users.

iv. Social Systems

A set of interrelated units engaged in joint problem solving to accomplish a common goal (Rogers, 2003). An innovation is of no use unless it is accepted as one by a social system. If a society fails to recognize an innovation it ceases to be one. The diffusion

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of innovation only takes place when a social system accepts it as an innovation and then shares information about it within the system and with other systems.

Social systems, so-called „diffusion networks‟, are critical to this theory as diffusion occurs within them – they establish boundaries around the diffusion. Social networks and communication come together around the concepts of homophily and heterophily.

Homophily is defined as the degree to which interacting individuals are similar in their attributes (e.g. education, social status, values) with heterophily being the opposite, i.e.

degree of difference. Generally, communication is most likely and effective within homophilous social networks where members share common understandings, language and meanings. However, homophily can be problematic in situations where difference in knowledge or views is needed. Prell (2009) recognize natural resource management as one such instance, and DOI theory asserts that homophily can „act as a barrier to the flow of innovations in a system‟ (Rogers 2003) and that some heterophily is therefore essential for diffusion of innovation to occur.

„One of the most distinctive problems in the diffusion of innovation is that the participants are usually quite heterophilous. This difference frequently leads to ineffective communication as the two individuals do not speak the same language. However, when two individuals are identical regarding their technical grasp of an innovation, diffusion cannot occur as there is no new information to exchange. The nature of diffusion demands that at least some degree of heterophily be present between the two participants in the communication process. Ideally, the individuals would be homophilous on all other variables, even though they are heterophilous regarding the innovation”

(Rogers, 2003, Prell, Hubacek & Reed, 2009).