A JOURNEY THROUGH THE EVOLUTION OF THEORIES AND MODELS OF ADOPTION OF INNOVATIONS (YEARS: 1981-1999)

The study furnishes in a nut shell the evolution of diffusion theories and models from 1981 till 1999. Various steps and factors involved are reviewed and consolidated to give scholars a holistic insight to the process of diffusion. The practical implications of these theories/models are also discussed as to how the adoption/diffusion can be accelerated by manipulating the variables. Narrative Synthesis Approach is used to draft this paper. Narrative Synthesis is all about systematically reviewing diverse literature and concluding findings using words and text. Four data bases – EBSCO, Petro One, JSTOR and Pro Quest were used for Literature search. Primary Search was done using the Key words mentioned and its various combinations to identify the relevant theories/models in a particular period and subsequently the name of the authors/theories/models were used to identify the core paper/book. Diffusion literature is very vast. There are umpteen numbers of studies available. None of these models can be generalized. The direction and intensity of impact of factors varies based on context, product, organization, industry and country