Different cultures more effectively implement particular sorts of changes. KelloggInsight, reporting on the work of Bryony Reich, states, “Societies, countries, communities, and friend groups – collectively known as network structures – that are more individualistic and loosely connected are better at adopting ‘low-threshold’ technologies, she [Bryony Reich, an assistant professor of strategy at the Kellogg School of Management] found. These are innovations that are valuable even without a large number of adopters, such as computers or agricultural innovations. But for higher-threshold technologies, societies with more tightly knit groups have the edge…In Mexico, which consists of highly cohesive communities, 78 percent of the population used instant-messaging apps in 2013. This compares to just 23 percent of the U.S. population, which is ranked as one of the most individualistic societies. The fax machine…was invented in the United States, but did not catch on right away. It did, however, take off in the 1980s in Japan, the most cohesive society in the world. After the fax machine’s widespread adoption by Japanese businessmen and homeowners, Western societies embraced it.”
“How Tight-Knit and Individualistic Communities Adopt New Technologies Differently.” 2017. KelloggInsight, https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/how-tight-knit-and-individualistic-communities-adopt-new-technologies-differently
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.