It’s good to talk

According to diffusion of innovation research, the journey to adopting a new product or idea – the innovation-decision process – goes through five key stages: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. The diffusion of Tetracycline among doctors in Illinois provides clues in how the impact of communication channels differs at every stage.

Tetracycline was adopted rapidly by doctors, largely because it had lesser side effects than previous antibiotics. Within two months, 15% of the Illinois physicians in the study had tried it. Two months later, that number had soared to 50%. By 17 months, tetracycline dominated antibiotic prescribing. So how did adoption correlate with the key stages of the innovation-decision process?

Initial awareness (knowledge) of Tetracycline was primarily driven by pharma. Researchers found that 80% of doctors first learned about the drug via its manufacturer, with 57% from reps, 18% mailings, 4% medical media and 1% advertising in medical journals. The numbers highlight the role commercial sources play in spreading awareness in the early stages of the innovation-decision process. However, as the process moves towards the persuasion and decision stages, peer networks become more influential.

In the case of Tetracycline, doctors began to rely more on their peers when deciding whether to adopt the new drug, turning to them for evaluative information, considering their practical experiences more trustworthy than scientific evaluations alone. The researchers concluded that scientific data from clinical trials isn’t enough to persuade the average doctor. Instead, the experiences of colleagues are more effective, reducing uncertainty about an innovation’s consequences.

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“The researchers concluded that scientific data from clinical trials isn’t enough to persuade the average doctor."

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Evidence of this reliance on peer communication is seen in the adoption patterns of Tetracycline. Early adopters, who had no peer experience to draw upon, used the drug tentatively. In the first and second months, doctors prescribed it to an average of 1.5 patients each. This cautious approach gradually lessened as more doctors adopted the drug and shared their experiences. By 5-8 months, new adopters were prescribing Tetracycline to an average of 2.7 patients each. This trend is consistent with other studies, where early adopters initially used the innovation cautiously, while later adopters embraced it more fully due to the accumulated experience of their peers.

The tentative adoption is attributed to the uncertainty inherent in the diffusion process. Despite being informed by scientific evaluations, early adopters need to conduct their own experiments to verify an innovation’s advantages under their own conditions. Later adopters, however, benefit from the reduced uncertainty provided by their peers’ experiences.

The diffusion of Tetracycline among doctors highlights the importance of different communication channels at various stages of the innovation-decision process. Initial awareness is often driven by commercial sources, but peer networks play a crucial role in the persuasion and decision stages, reducing uncertainty and facilitating widespread adoption.