Fad-like Technology Adoption as a Social Action

When technology adoption takes on fad-like characteristics it becomes critical to understand consumer behaviors due to the large swings in demand and expectations for the technology. Companies can see revenues skyrocket, only to fall just as fast without understanding the dynamics of the consumer adoption decision process. A model for fad-like technology adoption is described using the technology adoption lifecycle from Rogers adding the theory of information cascades and adopter thresholds. Adopter behavior in each stage of the lifecycle is described as individualistic or holistic utilizing the theories of Watkins and Durkheim. Adoption of the Apple iPhoneTM is shown to illustrate the application of the model and the individual and holistic social actions of fad-like technology adoption