HOW DO PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECT INNOVATION AND ADOPTION DECISIONS?

Abstract

Interest in the significant impact of psychological factors on innovation outcomes is growing rapidly. Our understanding of cognitive processes is, however, evolving, and research on the specific forms and role of these factors within innovation-related decisions is limited. We propose a theory of decision-making that offers consilience across research areas, is grounded in both physical and social sciences, explains the constructs already established by innovation, adoption and resistance research, and serves the needs of innovation researchers and practitioners as a pragmatic tool. Using a variety of established research tools in novel ways including semantic field and bibliometric analysis and by drawing on research from diverse disciplines, we identify evolved psychological mechanisms as influences on adoption decision processes. We conclude that Evolutionary Choice Theory, defined as the collective influence of these evolved psychological mechanisms, should be adopted by innovation practitioners and researchers and provide specific pragmatic applications to inform this adoption.