Even though every innovation is judged on economic grounds, at least to some degree, by its potential adopters, every innovation also has at least some degree of status conferral. Overadoption is one result of the prestige-conferring aspects of adopting an innovation. Overadoption is the adoption of an innovation by an individual when experts feel that he or she should reject. Overadoption may occur because of insufficient knowledge about the new idea on the part of the adopter, an inability to predict the innovation’s consequences, and/or the status-conferring aspect of a new idea. Certain individuals have such a penchant for anything new that they occasionally appear to be suckers for change. They adopt even when they should not.

roger m. everett

Rogers, E.M. Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition. Free Press, 2003.