Copyright Information
The Diffusion Game is a refinement of the Change Agent Game, a paper and pencil game developed by Everett M. Rogers (Copyright 1970 and 1972). It was modified and adapted to the computer by Charles B. Weinberg with the assistance of Roberto Mendez and David Rothschild at Stanford University. It was jointly copyrighted (1977 and 1981) by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Christopher H. Lovelock, Harvard University; Charles B. Weinberg, University of British Columbia).
This current version of the game (Copyright 2001) was written by Scot Hoffman and revised by Paul Murphy, with the permission of Charles B. Weinberg. It is intended for use by students taking the Sociology of Technology course at Iowa State University under the direction of Stephen G. Sapp. Please do not copy the program or distribute it to others.
Introduction
Diffusion is the process by which a tangible or intangible item spreads through a society. An area of particular interest to communication specialists, marketers, and sociologists is the diffusion of innovations, where an innovation is defined as a product, process, behavior pattern, idea, or entity that is new to a person or a society. People may be unwilling to adopt an innovation for a variety of reasons, not least because it may involve changes in present habits or beliefs.
Organizations seeking to promote change are sometimes referred to as change agencies and those who work for them as change agents. The latter are professionals who try to convince others to adopt innovations. Typically, change agents work by contacting individuals or groups in person; however, they may also use forms of non-personal communication. Examples of change agents are teachers, health workers, agricultural extension agents, Peace Corps volunteers, sales people, and political precinct workers.
This game asks you to assume the role of a change agent and to concentrate on two of a change agent's functions -- gathering information on the target population and, based on that information, implementing diffusion strategies to promote an innovation.
How to Play the Game
Scenario
You are a change agent in a rural village. A map of this village, which consists of 100 farm households, is provided. These households are divided into ten cliques. Each clique has a different number of followers, headed by one opinion leader. The degree of reputational influence accorded to each opinion leader varies. In some instances, this influence may extend to villagers outside the opinion leader's immediate clique.
Although you know little about the village, your objective is to secure adoption of the innovation among a specified percentage of village households within one year. Information about the villagers' behavior takes time to obtain but should help you develop diffusion strategies for promoting the innovation. You will therefore find yourself engaging in two kinds of activities: (1) obtaining information about the villagers and (2) selecting appropriate diffusion strategies to motivate villagers to adopt the innovation you are advocating.
Each time you initiate a diffusion strategy, the cost is subtracted from the work days available for completing your task and you are notified of the number of days that remain. At the end of your visit to the village, you will be told how many adopters you have gained. At any point in the game, you may also ask for a report on how many households have adopted the innovation so far (i.e., "Feedback"). Your visit ends when you have used all your work days.
The game's scoring system rewards players who choose wisely among the different diffusion strategies. Additionally, the sequence in which you select diffusion strategies affects your score.
Information Request
Each time you play the game, it is assumed you are new to the village and must learn some basic information about its social structure and the people who live there. The Diffusion Game assumes it takes 45 days to collect this information. Learning about social structure and population characteristics will greatly enhance your ability to gain adoption of your innovation. During your first 45 days in the village you have learned the reputational influence of each opinion leader. Also, you have learned key communication patterns among the leaders of the 10 cliques. These communication patterns are summarized as "Links with Other Opinion Leaders" in the information window. By observing the reputational influence of each leader and contact patterns among leaders you should be able to identify the best strategy to gain maximum adoption within the remaining 320 days of your visit.
Diffusion Strategies
There are several ways in which you can inform villagers about the innovation. Although you can reasonably assume that each of the diffusion strategies is a feasible alternative (for example, you and the villagers speak the same language; there is a local newspaper and a radio station in the vicinity), some strategies may be more effective than others.
It is important to note that you cannot implement most diffusion strategies until you have first obtained relevant information. For example, you cannot select a diffusion strategy of talking about the innovation with a specific opinion leader in the village unless you have already identified that leader.
Each diffusion strategy convinces a specific number of village households to adopt the innovation. By periodically seeking feedback about your performance, you should be able to assess the relative effectiveness of different strategies.
With the exception of conducting demonstrations at opinion leader's farms, there is no limit to the number of times you may select a specific strategy. However, a strategy may be more or less effective (in terms of new adopters) the more it is used. The only way to discover the effectiveness of a strategy after repeated use is by obtaining regular feedback.
Suggestions for Playing the Game
- Develop an overall diffusion strategy each time you play the game.
- Remember to use what you know about diffusion, especially the relative importance of different channels of communication at different stages in the innovation adoption process.
- Do not forget the value of feedback, even if it costs time. Feedback helps you to learn the effectiveness of your strategy.
Instructions for Playing the Game
- Click on the link provided below to open the program for Village 1.
- At the prompt, click on "Open" to play the game.
Important Notes
- You do not need to have the software program Visual Basic installed onto your computer to play the Diffusion Game. It should execute as a stand alone program.
- Unfortunately, executable (.exe) files do not work on the Macintosh computer. If you have a Mac and no convenient access to a pc, then contact Dr. Sapp to discuss ideas for an alternative assignment.
Diffusion Game: Village One (Not active until Thursday, December 4th).
A Real World Example
The Diffusion Game is fun to play and provides an excellent summary of the materials in this section of Sociology 415. The game, however, is noticeably artificial. This link presents an example of an Application of the Diffusion Game in Afghanistan by a former student who took Sociology 515, a version of this course developed for the Masters in Professional Agriculture program at ISU.
