Barriers to the Diffusion of Innovation/Adoption Process:

a) Usage:

• “Usage” as a barrier to innovation diffusion and adoption is said to exist when the social system finds it incompatible with the existing usage and consumption behaviors and thus, finds it difficult to accept and use.
• The barrier is more psychological, based on deep-rooted values, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions, resulting in such behavior of non-acceptance and non-usage. For example, people are often reluctant to enter into online monetary transactions for fear of loss of privacy and fraud.

b) Value:

• Consumers could also resist acceptance of an innovation, as they may feel low about the perceived value; consumers may perceive the new product/service offering to be the same as existing offerings, and “nothing new” or “better in value.”
• For example, while assessing mobile charges, people compare the post-paid plans with the pre-paid plans in terms of rental as well as call charges and conclude that the former are cheaper, despite rental being high.

c) Risk:

• Consumers show reluctance to use an innovative product/service offering out of fear of taking risks.
• There could be six types of risks that a consumer could face,

i) Functional risk (would the product perform as expected),

ii) Physical risk (would the product usage and or consumption pose a threat),

iii) Social risk (would it cause risk of social embarrassment),

iv) Financial risk (would the product be worth the cost),

v) Psychological risk (would the innovation hurt consumers’ ego),

vi) Time risk (would it lead to wastage of time spent while making the purchase).

d) Psychological:

• These factors relate to a person’s background, attitude and belief, perception, values, lifestyles,
• culture, etc. They may find the innovation to be psychologically threatening.
• It includes:

i) Tradition barrier: Anything that is new and does not support traditional patterns is regarded as psychologically threatening; this includes the usage and adoption of innovative products and services. E.g.: Use of bikini.

ii) Image barrier refers to the consumer’s attitude and feelings about the product/service offering, the brand, the dealer, or even the country of origin. Eg: TATA nano is a middle-class family luxury.