Diffusion of Innovations Theory Applied: The Adoption of

173 Pages·2016·0.68 MB·English

by  Jill Cohen Walker

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Masters Theses Graduate School
5-1999
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Jill Cohen Walker
University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes
Part of the Communication Commons
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Walker, Jill Cohen, "Diffusion of Innovations Theory Applied: The Adoption of Digital On-Demand
Technology by Book Publishers and Printers. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1999.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/1926
This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and
Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE:
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To the Graduate Council:
I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Jill Cohen Walker entitled "Diffusion of Innovations
Theory Applied: The Adoption of Digital On-Demand Technology by Book Publishers and
Printers." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and
recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science, with a major in Communication.
Jeffrey S. Wilkinson, Major Professor
We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance:
J.A. Crook, H. H. Howard
Accepted for the Council:
Carolyn R. Hodges
Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School
(Original signatures are on file with official student records.)
To the Graduate Council:
I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Jill Cohen Walker entitled, “Diffusion
of Innovations Theory Applied: The Adoption of Digital On-Demand Technology
by Book Publishers and Printers.” I have examined the final copy of this thesis for
form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in
Communications.
Jeffrey S. Wilkinson, Major Professor
We have read this thesis and
recommend its acceptance:
J.A. Crook
H. H. Howard
Accepted for the Council:
Dr. C. W. Minkel
Associate Vice Chancellor and
Dean of The Graduate School
(Original signatures are on file in the Graduate Admissions and Records Office.)
DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS THEORY APPLIED:
THE ADOPTION OF DIGITAL ON-DEMAND TECHNOLOGY
BY BOOK PUBLISHERS AND PRINTERS
A Thesis
Presented for the
Master of Science
Degree
The University of Tennessee
Jill Cohen Walker
May 1999
Copyright © Jill Cohen Walker, 1999
All rights reserved
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DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to my children
Ian and Stephanie Cohen
who always came through for me;
Rob McAllister and Noel Ward
who introduced me to the world of technical
writing and believed in my abilities;
and the eight companies who so willingly participated
in this study
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful to my Thesis Committee, Jeff Wilkinson, Jim Crook and
Herb Howard, for allowing to me engage in this study. Their support and
belief in my ability to research and write about a complex subject in a short
amount of time is most appreciated. Jeff Wilkinson has earned my utmost
respect for being a true educator—one who knows that some students
can and often do think “outside the box.” I am also grateful that he
listened to me ramble on about digital on-demand printing technology,
believed in this study and defines books the way I do—as the first mass
medium, the first Internet, and a priceless part of the world in which we live.
It is also important to thank some colleagues for their unwavering
support. Rob McAllister and Noel Ward trusted me to write and edit
chapters of a book and magazine articles about technologies that were
initially foreign to me. This study is the fruit of that trust.
May the Lord bless and keep my special online friends in “His Zoo,”
with special thanks to Frannie, Marlene, Tina, Rusty, Cathy and my cyberson,
Jack for their love and prayers. My dear friend Judy King listened through
many phone calls and provided priceless support. Cathy Larsh offered
friendship and qualitative research support. My neighbor and dear friend,
Rita Aurelio, provided a soft chair and a mom’s heart when I needed a
break. A most important thanks goes to Sherry Morrel for her friendship
over the years, especially when the future looked dim in 1992.
Lastly, without the help and encouragement of my children, Ian and
Stephanie, this study would not have been completed.
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ABSTRACT
Desktop publishing rose in popularity during the late 1980s, allowing
whole documents—books, journals, reports, etc.—to be created on
computers. The printing industry had to develop compatible technology to
accommodate the changes in document creation. In response to
desktop publishing, digital printing appeared in 1990 with the invention of
computer-to-plate technology. In its earliest days, it was limited to specific
commercial applications such as check and business-form printing.
An amalgam of several technologies, digital printing has evolved
and on-demand printing has matured into a book-printing technology that
starts with the creation of a document and ends with the shipping of the
final product. Digital on-demand technology is especially applicable to the
printing of non-fiction, educational, reference and scholarly books—books
with a limited or small audience—and out-of-print books.
With the development and application of digital prepress and on-
demand printing, publishers are no longer forced to print hundreds of
thousands of books in one run—many of which are heavily discounted,
returned and recycled. Small presses can prosper and expand by adding
new authors to their lists of books in print. Digital on-demand printing opens
a new future for books, which were the first media—a link that people in
most cultures had to other cultures—and ensures that they will not be
rendered obsolete by the digital and electronic media.
This study used an interview inquiry tool to acquire information regar-
ding technology acquisition choices made by six representative printers
and publishers. Designed around the components of diffusion of innova-
tions theory as propounded by Everett M. Rogers, it goes beyond the
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the traditional answers—economics and status—and ferrets out the
deeper issues and motivations involved in the adoption of new technology.
Responses to interview questions also provided insight into the media
methods used for disseminating information about new technologies to
selected book publishers, printers and publisher-printers. This aspect of the
study focused on the role of trade magazines as sources of information
through articles, marketing campaigns and advertising.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction to the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Method of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
II. LITERATURE REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Book Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Publishing and Digital On-Demand Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Digital On-Demand Printing Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Digital On-Demand Printing of Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Diffusion of Innovations Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Elements of Diffusion of Innovations Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Adoption or Rejection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Rate of Adoption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Consequences of Adoption or Rejection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Reinvention of Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The Role of Trade Magazines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
III. METHOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Qualitative Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Qualitative Research and Categorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Description of Participating Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Selection of Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
The Interview Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Case Studies and Comparisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

IV. RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Research Question Number One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Research Question Number Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Research Question Number Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Research Question Number Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Research Question Number Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Post Hoc Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
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