 diffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures. everett rogers, a professor of communication studies, popularized the theory in his book diffusion of innovations; the book was first published in 1962, and is now in its fifth edition (2003). rogers argues that diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the participants in a social system. the origins of the diffusion of innovations theory are varied and span multiple disciplines. rogers proposes that four main elements influence the spread of a new idea: the innovation itself, communication channels, time, and a social system. this process relies heavily on human capital. the innovation must be widely adopted in order to self-sustain. within the rate of adoption, there is a point at which an innovation reaches critical mass. the categories of adopters are: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. diffusion manifests itself in different ways in various cultures and fields and is highly subject to the type of adopters and innovation-decision process. == history == the concept of diffusion was first studied by the french sociologist gabriel tarde in late 19th century and by german and austrian anthropologists such as friedrich ratzel and leo frobenius. the study of diffusion of innovations took off in the subfield of rural sociology in the midwestern united states midwest in the 1920s and 1930s. agriculture technology was advancing rapidly, and researchers started to examine how independent farmers were adopting hybrid seeds, equipment, and techniques. a study of the adoption of hybrid corn seed in iowa by ryan and gross (1943) solidified the prior work on diffusion into a distinct paradigm that would be cited consistently in the future.{{cite journal|last1=ryan |first1=b.|last2=gross |first2=n.|yea
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