A Bell Curve

New Idea Acceptance

I hate contradictions … and certainly the title for this narrative is a self contradiction. It seems to us ... sometimes ... that getting someone to accept an idea ... involves tossing them a line or a curve. And for someone to suggest that ... getting people to accept new ideas ... is a straightforward matter ... based on statistical understanding ... is a contradiction. But the bell curve ... of equally balanced responses ... is an observable phenomenon in society.  Its a matter of how long it takes for a Victorian skirt … to reach hot pants.

The Everett Rogers model … sometimes called the bell curve … for product / idea … diffusion in markets … is a useful study for understanding change … in society. At the front of all changes in the appeal to ideas … are the innovators … who comprise about 2.5% of the population … in most locales. They are generally reported to be young … enterprising … and are open to new ideas. In the growth to maturity … they seek to establish … their own identity … in a society … that is relatively well established with past ideas.

Innovators therefore are a feature of every new generation … and bring themselves to merge with existing practices … and to transform past practices where they occur. As a bottom up group … non-conformist … and sometimes made up of professionals … they don't receive a lot of support straight away. But where they preservere with their contribution to ideas … these get picked up by the second group … the Opinion makers*1 … forming 13.5% of the general population.

Opinion makers tend to be well established … and do not risk … taking on new ideas … that may jeopardize their position … as social leaders. Hence … they would cultivate a friendship … with young innovators … eager to assure their openness to new ideas … and to represent themselves … as being … in some way … responsible for bringing vibrant change. Their association with an idea … or product … creates a major opportunity … for the idea to get ahead.

Thereafter the idea … moves into a greater application in society … led primarily by the impulse of the opinion makers. We all want to be like the leadership … or the people we admire. Comprising about 34% of the population … the early minority*2 … made up of career minded individuals … aged about 35 " 45 … and with a great income mobility … seek successful formulas for making it work. And this represents the acceptance of the idea in the community.

As this group moves with the new idea … the next group made up of average incomes … called the late majority 34% … takes to the fashion and habits of the early minority … and soon is creating acceptance for the new ideas. Its the social mobility they seek … to move into a higher income … that motivates them. Thereafter … the idea becomes applied to a total of 84% of the population … compared to the 50% at early minority.

Communication with the late majority … is what concerns most people … particularly in the early minority … as they settle into a successful career … while advancing in life's ambitions. They seek recognition … social acceptance … and to be viewed as being caring … and concerned … in their attitudes to society … and general folk. Its a considerable experience to feel oneself … in relation to … others … as it affirms to us our place in the sun.

But in doing so … we become bogged down by the social cues from the movies … books … and opinion makers who apply themselves to rhetoric. It clamps our feelings about older folk … society … and political administration … and slows down our responses. Here's where … a sharp edge to thinking … based on research and knowledge … helps us to pause … and take a new perception … to what we deal with. And Everett Rogers is a proven … model of idea diffusion in society … and has proven itself over and over again.

As is obvious … its particularly helpful … when engaging new experiences … and handling change … especially the way we want that change … to extend beyond our mere individual natures … to friends and societies. It makes us effective as an instrument of change … and brings to a fulfillment … our own impulses … for making the world a better place. Its an informed way of doing what we want to do.

The last category … comprising the laggards … about 16% … comprises the low incomes and the old. They present the greatest resistance to change … and will seldom … admit that they are even feeling some enthusiasm … for the new. They are set in their ways … and will always find new ways to critique … the changes we experience. However … in the way they view … things getting better … even they … may eventually come around.

The understanding presented here … finds its greatest usefulness … in our own individual experience. It helps us understand our natures … and the flow of the natural order of things. It helps us to know what we can do … and create some distance … with our attitudes of helplessness … at the scale and scope … of changes … as it impacts on our intentions to do the right thing. It preserves our enthusiasm for life … and brings considerable satisfaction to our natures.

A clear measure of what we hope to achieve … is an important thing. It may simply be a matter … of getting someone introduced to the internet … or to buy clothes of a new design. It moves from there … and creates its own initiatives for change. Our love and kindness … does not seek a swim in the ocean of gratification … but a bath in the pool of fulfillment. There's a difference. And if relying on a study model … reduces our gratification … its because its supposed to. And that is what makes it work.

Note:
*1 :  Everett Rogers classifies this group as Early Adopters. The term ' Opinion Maker ' is an alternative term.
*2 :  Everett Rogers classifies this group as ' Early Majority.' I have altered that to early minority in consideration  
      of the coverage of the market / society.