Article,
Innovation as a structural interest: rethinking the impact of network position on innovation adoption
Social Networks, 2 (4): 327-355 (1980)
Abstract
The act of adopting an innovation is argued to be a type of structural
interest. The proposed conception of innovation as a structural interest
describes how a potential adopter perceives utility in innovating
as a function of his position in network(s) of relations with other
potential adopters. Implications of the concept are in accord with
diffusion research describing the linkage between social structure
and innovation in terms of a potential adopter's social integration.
The proposed concept avoids, however, three ambiguities in translating
social integration into a structural concept stated in terms of network
position. Moreover, it extends the scope of earlier work to suggest
new connections between social structure and innovation.In order
to make empirical implications explicit, hypotheses for a reanalysis
of the classic Medical Innovation data are described. The proposed
conception of innovation states the utility a doctor should perceive
in prescribing a new drug as a function of his position in professional
and social networks among other doctors in his community. The hypotheses
predict when a doctor should begin prescribing a new drug and the
relative importance of his personal characteristics versus network
position as the determinant of when he begins prescribing the new
drug.
