[Air-L] Implementation and confirmation in Rogers' innovation decision process

[Cho, Inho]

Dear colleagues,

 

I am conducting a research regarding discontinuance of an innovation (an
intranet), but I am troubled in conceptualizing/operationalizing
discontinuance. In Rogers' framework, discontinuance is located in
confirmation stage and mainly occurs due to dissonance between users'
expectation and the functions/results provided by the innovation, and
negative information obtained from users' communication network. And, Rogers
(1983) argues that 'discontinuance is one indication of incomplete
routinization and institutionalization.' The point is, however, that
routinization and institutionalization should be achieved during
implementation stage, which is why Rogers posits that actual innovation
adoption process ends here. So, my question is whether we should understand
routinization and institutionalization as pre-conditions for discontinuance
or not. 

In addition, in Rogers' model, actual use starts at implementation stage
since adoption stage concerns mental process rather than behavioral change.
Thus, implementation stage intrinsically includes trials and evaluations.
If, this understanding is correct, a seemingly important questions raise;
why we need a separate stage of confirmation; if implementation and
confirmation differ, what we confirm during confirmation stage; if
confirmation stage aims to confirm the existence of new innovations (ideas)
including comparisons between an adopted innovation and new innovations,
confirmation stage intrinsically includes components of a new innovation
adoption process.

If you know any literature or have a suggestion, please contact me at
choinho at mail.utexas.edu

 

Cho, Inho

Department of Communication Studies

University of Texas, Austin