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economic development free from dramatic changes, the diffusion of an
innovation is assumed to follow more closely the S-shape curve.
Research on Internet diffusion
The sweeping adoption of digital communication technology since the
1990s brings back the traditions of diffusion study. The Internet has spread to the
world at an unprecedented rate, which has enabled scholars to observe the
diffusion process firsthand. Studies on Internet diffusion have been focused both
on the server side (Barnett et al, 2000) including domain (Network Wizard), hosts
(Hargittai, 1999) and ISPs, as well as on the user end (Zhu & He, 2002). The
traditional S curve suggested by Rogers is widely applied in many diffusion
studies for tracking the accumulation of Internet adopters. Such studies are often
challenging since the adoption represents something of a moving target, with the
Internet population growing every minute and expanding exponentially.
National and international organizations have been engaged on gathering
economic and census data related to the Internet since the mid-1990s (Press,
1996). Surveys of the Internet population in the U.S. have been conducted by
various government administration (e.g., the Census Bureau, NTIA), “dotcom”
companies (e.g., cyberatlas.com, Internet.com, nua.com), multimedia market
research organizations (e.g., Nielsen/Netrating, Mediamark Research Inc.,
Jupiter Research, Forester Research, Emarketer), and academic institutes (e.g.,
GUV, NUA).
Convention