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Technology diffusion through effective public policy communication
Peter C Wilton
Walter A Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, United States of America
Abstract
Public policy makers have the authority to impose regulatory or economic controls and incentives on emerging technologies. As such, they may directly influence the technology diffusion process. Consumer studies of innovation diffusion that overlook the effects of public policy mediation are incomplete. This article presents a model for effective uptake by consumers of technological information from public policy makers. Research on ‘objective’ information-use and ‘traditional’ consumer behavior information-processing is applied to a policy-formulation task that required evaluation of a new technology by consumers. The author discusses the implications of the results for public policy communication on policy uptake and technology diffusion.
"The model could help scientists present relevant results to developers, and developers present information to investors to help them properly assess the commercial potential of the technology."
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