Diffusion

The process of dissemination, the spread of an idea or innovation from its hearth to other areas.

Barriers to diffusion

Physical barriers in nature: rivers, oceans, lakes, and mountain ranges.

Cultural religious beliefs. language

impedes the easy flow of ideas and fads from the United States and English-speaking Canada to French Canadians in Québec.

Political boundary can impede or slow down the dissemination of disease.

Economic factors people in certain places cannot afford to purchase a

new commodity or technological innovation.

Types of Diffusion

Expansion Diffusion – idea or innovation spreads outward from the hearth Contagious Hierarchical Stimulus

Relocation Diffusion- migrants bring an idea/innovation physically to a place

Worldwide, there are 1.4 billion followers of Islam There are

between 5 – 7 million Muslims in the United States

Diffusion of Islam

630 – 1600 AD

Hierarchical Diffusion- ideas/artifacts spread between larger places or social elite

later to smaller places or less prominent people

Fashion trends Cell phone use in the

early 1990s

Music and Clothing (hierarchical diffusion)

New clothing and music fads, for example,spread quickly among major world cities such as New York, Los Angeles,London, Paris, and Tokyo.

Only later do they filter down the urban hierarchy

Starbucks.. They're everywhere

Contagious Diffusion

All individuals and areas outward from the source region are affected

Term implies direct contact

Usually associated with disease

Distribution of West Nile Virus:

Humans, Birds, & Mosquitos, 2001

Diffusion of Africanized Bees after

their arrival to Brazil,

South America

Relocation Diffusion

Spread of culture through physical movement

Language, religion, food preferences

Can show spotty spatial distribution

Hmong Refugees from Laos

Spanish and Portuguese Colonies

Stimulus Diffusion (trans cultural)

Takes part of an idea to create an innovative product

Computer keyboards, Cherokee writing system, gang culture fashions, Siberian reindeer herding.

Summary

Diffusion: the process of dissemination, the spread of an idea or innovation from its hearth to other areas.

Relocation diffusion: The spread of idea by physical movement of people from one place to another. Ex: spread of language and culture from new migrants to America

Summary

Expansion Diffusion: Spread of idea from one place to another by snowballing. This can happen in three ways.

Hierarchal Diffusion: Spread of an idea from people (nodes) of authority or power to other persons or places(Ex: hip-hop/rap music)

Contagious Diffusion: Rapid and widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population(Ex: ideas placed on the internet)

Stimulus diffusion: the spread of an underlying principle, even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse. (Ex: PC & Apple competition, p40) Characteristic throughout the population