Date of Award

Winter 1999

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Department

Marketing and Analysis

First Advisor

Hani Mesak

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to investigate and explain the differences in the adoption rates of several technological innovations at three levels of aggregation: (1) U.S. state level, (2) U.S. Bureau of Census regional level, and (3) cross-national level. A unique feature of this dissertation is that it focuses not only on the temporal (time-related) but also on the spatial (space-related) dimensions of the process of diffusion of innovations. The Mansfield-Blackman diffusion model (1974) is used to estimate the adoption rates of three technological innovations over the period 1960-90 across the 50 states of the U.S. The model is also used to estimate the adoption rates of six technological innovations over the period 1965-77 across the nine regions of the U.S. The model is further used to estimate the adoption rates of eight technological innovations over the period 1971-90 across 14 European countries. Multiple regression models have been used to explain the variation in the adoption rates of an innovation using socioeconomic variables, socio-economic and personal-value variables, and socio-economic and culture variables across states, regions, and nations, respectively. For the state analysis, the annual raw data related to the explanatory variables are mainly compiled from different issues of the Statistical Abstract of the United States. For the regional analysis, the explanatory variables related to the socio-economic variables are mainly compiled from the same Statistical Abstract whereas personal-value variables are obtained from a study by Kahle (1986). For the cross-national analysis, the explanatory variables related to the socio-economic variables are mainly compiled from various editions of International Monetary Fund publications and European Marketing Data and Statistics whereas national culture variables for different countries are obtained from Hofstede (1980). The results of the data analyses give support to seven research propositions. They are: (1) PI: In the U.S., the adoption rate of a technological innovation differs by state, (2) P2: In the U.S., the adoption rate of a technological innovation differs by region, (3) P3: The adoption rate of a technological innovation differs by country, (4) P4: The adoption rate of a technological innovation in a lag country is higher than it is in a lead country, (5) P5: In the U.S., the adoption rate of a technological innovation in a state is affected by its socio-economic characteristics, (6) P6: In the U.S., the adoption rate of a technological innovation in a geographic region is affected by personal value-related variables, and (7) P7: The adoption rate of a technological innovation across countries is influenced by national culture.

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