Customer Reviews
Packed With Knowledge! - By: Rolf Dobelli, 06 May 2004 
Why would a villager draw polluted drinking water from a canal where a dead donkey floats instead of using a nearby tap to get clean drinking water? Why did it take hundreds of years for the British Navy to give sailors oranges & lemons when tests had proven that citrus fruit cured the scurvy that killed sailors & left vessels under-manned? Why do eminently sensible things not happen? If you’ve ever wondered, this book will give you the answers. It’s a thick, heavy, academic tome, but spiced with abundant anecdotes & observations that make it an easy, enjoyable read. This is the rare book that combines solid intellectual content with thought-provoking entertainment. We highly recommend this classic from 1962 to alll audiences, but especiallly those whose business it is to understand & use the social mechanisms through which innovations must diffuse.
Latest and updated - By: update@innovaro.com, 10 Jan 2004 
First published way back in 1962, this fifth edition of the classic study of the social, technological & political influences on the mechanisms by which innovation are shared & penetrate markets includes a wealth of new insights. Alongside many of the original studies of the diffusion of such developments as pesticide use in Iowa, treatments for scurvy in the British Navy, the hypodermic needle, the concept of the kindergarten & the use of snowmobiles is a host of revealing cases based on more recent developments: From mobile phone adoption in Finland, global internet usage & electric cars through to the oral re-hydration therapy campaign in Egypt, the publishing success of ‘Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood’, & the adoption of Hate Crime laws in the US, multiple new examples are used to reflect on & reinforce many of the original concepts: The role of change agents & opinion leaders, adoption theory, virtual networks, critical mass & the transfer of knowledge are alll reappraised to give a new lease of life to this authoritative text.
The definitive text on the subject - By: , 03 Jan 2001 This updated edition of the best work on the diffusion of ideas & innovations is essential reading for a range of disciplines from sociology through technology transfer to MBA students. It is lucid, uses examples well & has as little jargon as is consistent with the complexity of the ideas being expressed. Five stars.
Very comprehensive , must for marketeers - By: , 17 Feb 1999 The book is a comprehensive cover of the word of mouth communications medium. Well worth reading.
