Adoption of online social media innovation: Who's inside the spectrum?

Abstract

Few but mentionable studies have been conducted in typifying the Online Social Media (OSM) users. Studies on innovations taking place within the OSM environment are also very much found. But gaps are present in linking OSM innovations and adoption of innovations by the OSM users. Precise and objective studies to put the OSM users in an adoption spectrum are close to nil, though such studies might carry great significance in this new but exploding field of business and marketing. This study focuses on proposing an 'Adoption Spectrum' for OSM innovations by the users by proliferating Rogers's 'Adoption of Innovation' with the 'Typology of OSM Users'. Absolutely conceptual and qualitative in nature, the study concentrates on assessing the speed and magnitude of adoption of OSM innovations by the users. The proposed spectrum is an alignment between Rogers's work and the OSM user typology. Mentionable limitation of this piece of work may be forwarding the empirical justifications for further study. However, the study may be used as input for managing innovations by the firms that venture through OSM.