The Diffusion of Innovation in the Era of Social Networks; A case study of VIMML’s adoption process

Abstract: This inquiry aims to study the adoption process of a new social application in the Swedish market. By examining the case study of VIMML, a startup that launched the first Swedish anonymous social network in the cities of Karlstad, Gothenburg, Stockholm and Malmö, the thesis focuses on the user behavior in the decision process of downloading a new social application. The research is deeply contextualized in the theoretical framework of the diffusion of innovation and attempt to understand which are the new factors that the digital era brings to the well-known model of innovation decision process theorized by Rogers (2003). Drawing specific attention to the social network market, this model is applied to the VIMML’s case study and, with the cooperation of the startup, empirical findings are used to endorse the theory. As the result of the research, the model used in the theory is subjected to some changes when applied to VIMML. Moreover, the thesis merges these new characteristics of the model with the findings of the most recent studies regarding the needs satisfaction that affect the adoption process of a social network. Thanks to a qualitative and quantitative research the results are validated for the case of the social platform VIMML and the generalization to the market of social networks is left to future researches. The inquiry concludes with some managerial implications for the startup.