SYSTEMATIZATION OF FACTORS AFFECTING THE DIFFUSION OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE REGIONS

The article considers and systematizes the main factors influencing the process of diffusion and adoption of technologies and innovations, offers marketing methods to reduce the impact of barriers to the process of diffusion.

The Impact of Co-Creating Through AR in Retail Stores on Purchase Intentions

With the broad diffusion of technology in the past few decades, there has been a shift in power from sellers to buyers. Marketers can no longer offer a product to the customer without considering their input in the development, customisation, and personalisation of the product. Innovative companies are learning how to co-create with their customers in order to understand what they want and how they want it. In this paper, the authors examine the role of augmented reality (AR) technology in co-creation and the effect it has on customer perceived risk, trust and purchase intent. A 2x2x2 factorial experimental design was used and followed up with an attitudinal survey measuring perceived risk, trust, and purchase intent. The results show that AR reduces perceived risk, increases perceived trust and purchase intent, thus providing evidence that AR may be more than just a novelty technology in today's evolving business environment.

Technology Choices

States have an ever-increasing basket of technologies to choose from when it comes to renewable energy. After the OPEC oil crisis, states funded research in renewable energy sources, but this fell away as the crisis passed. State funding of research remains a vital component of creating a rich basket of renewable technology options. The more technology options, the better, as one can cover the risks of the other. Open science is vital to the diffusion of technology options. Large-scale hydropower may be a fragile source of power in a drought-stricken world. The commercial secrecy of nuclear power providers is one of the key reasons the technology will remain expensive.

Measuring the Digital Transformation of Education and Teaching

The digital transformation has reached higher education and many faculty members find teaching in the digital environment hard. A key question for educational institutions is whether the uptake of blended learning within their digitization strategies matches the pace of technological innovation. This chapter discusses a model for monitoring the progress of educational digitization that has been in use throughout four years at HTW Chur, Switzerland. The model connects technologies to practices rather than abstracting technologies from them. This helps identifying performance indicators in campus-wide information systems for understanding the diffusion of technology uses among the faculty, and it helps categorizing new technologies towards their organizational innovation potential. The combined use of these performance indicators with the model supports tailoring faculty development activities for digitization strategies that are based on the actual development needs within the institution.

Segmentation of the Young Elderly Based on Technology Readiness

We examine the young elderly’s technology readiness in order to understand the propensity to adopt and use technology for personal use. We use the Technology Readiness Index 2.0 as segmentation basis to segment a sample of mainly young elderly individuals. Our aim is to find meaningful segments within this demographic group regarding their technology readiness, and to contrast the segments with previous research. Our findings based on 538 retirees revealed a similar segmentation profile as found within working-age populations, and a surprisingly different profile than previous research with a mature target group. We identified five distinct segments portraying the young elderly as diverse technology users, ranging from ‘pioneers’ to ‘hesitators’. The findings give arise to discussion regarding the impact of age on the technology readiness of individuals and the importance of age as a predictor of technology use. We propose that commonly held views on age as an inhibitor of technology use are becoming outdated as the diffusion of technology reaches a certain level of maturity in a market.

Social Media and Library Collaboration

The use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp has become an integral part of everyday communication in Zimbabwe. These platforms allow libraries and librarians to work collaboratively. Anchored on the diffusion of technology theory, this chapter analyzed the availability of social media in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Library, Ministry of Environment Library, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development Library, and Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency Library. The researcher interviewed six library professionals and found out that government librarians are using social media platforms to promote access to information and support freedom of information. The study noted that government libraries are still facing challenges such as lack of administrative support and lack of clear collaboration policies. These challenges are affecting collaboration initiatives. Accordingly, the researcher recommended managers to support their libraries with financial resources if government librarians are to effectively apply social media in their work areas.

Transforming to a Sustainable City Through Technological Change

This chapter analyses the transformation of a sustainable city through the process of technological change. With urban areas having a growing majority population, it is very important to focus on how technology can help in creating a more sustainable future. Technology and innovation are central to the implementation of the sustainable development of a city. The technological revolution through technological change has an impact on building a sustainable city, which involves social, economic, and environmental aspects. Technological change involves the overall process of invention, innovation, and diffusion of technology.

Socio-Economic Dimensions of Adoption of Conservation Practices: What Is Needed to Be Done?

Promoting sustainable agricultural production requires farmers to adopt new technologies such as organic farming to increase the agricultural productivity, while conserving the environment. Adoption and diffusion of new technologies need a long process, as experienced in the past. There are social and economic factors, identified in the literature, and those could cause delays in farmers’ use of new technologies. Hence, technology adoption and diffusion are important policy issues in agriculture. For that reason, this paper provides a literature review including factors influencing the adoption and diffusion of technology in agriculture and aims to contribute to the future studies and policies, especially focusing on the social capital or the social aspects, which are proven not to be analyzed by the previous studies comprehensively. The results show that interaction with neighbors and relatives, and membership in a group or organization, which represent the social aspects, has a positive influence on adoption and diffusion of new technologies. Hence, policy-makers should incorporate the social aspects when designing the policies, such as cost sharing programmes, to promote adoption and diffusion of new technologies.