Mainstreaming the Laggards- An Approach

Abstract

In the diffusion of Innovation theory, the last group which adopts an innovation is the laggards which account approximately 16% of population of the society. It consists largely of elders, and those with low socioeconomic status. Laggards believe mostly friends and neighbors as information sources, dislike change, and accept new things only when forced to. The innovators, early adopters and early majority are the population who adopts a change or new idea without any reluctance so we need to think about what we will do about our laggards – in the past we could often get away by ignoring them – but nowadays some systems may only work if everyone uses it (like use of apps- Arogyasetu) and non-use is not an option. Mainstreaming the laggards is important for the overall development of the community. Certain approaches can be followed for streamlining the laggards at par with the late majority will be a great success for the extension functionaries/ sociologists.