GALEF, BARRY; PHD

                         YALE UNIVERSITY, 1983
 
                         ECONOMICS, GENERAL (0501)
 

                         The aim of this dissertation is to identify the main influences on the diffusion of new analytical
                         instruments, and to compare these influences to those for types of innovations which do not share the
                         analytical instrument's feature of facilitating further innovation. In pursuit of these objectives, a framework
                         for analyzing the adoption decision for instruments is developed. A crucial element in the framework is
                         the description of the form that anticipated benefits from the instruments take in the non-profit,
                         scientifically-oriented environment in which analytical instruments are commonly used. Given this
                         framework, the patterns of diffusion in terms of the characteristics of the adopting organizations, the
                         flows of communication from the adopters to potential adopters, and the time required for different steps
                         in the adoption processes are analyzed statistically. Data for the analysis was collected using a
                         questionnaire sent to purchasers of five types of instruments: high performance liquid chromatographs,
                         amino acid analyzers, laser-raman spectroscopes, thermal analyzers, and nuclear magnetic resonance
                         spectrometers. A principal finding is, as predicted through the use of the framework for analysis of the
                         adoption decision, that the degree of orientation towards the goals of science is an important
                         determinant of the rate of adoption. Other important conclusions are that early adopters play a crucial role
                         in facilitating further adoptions; that awareness of the new instruments spread slowly enough, in spite of
                         publicity by their manufacturers, to act as a significant check on the rate of diffusion; and that awareness
                         spread more rapidly among those with greater innate need for the new instruments, which supports the
                         hypothesis that potential adopters practice selective exposure to, and perception of, messages
                         concerning the innovations.

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