Government Programs and Diffusion of Innovations in Taiwan: An Empirical Study of Household Technology Adoption Rates.

The article presents an empirical study of household technology adoption rates in Taiwan. Technology transfers can be broadly defined as the set of activities and processes whereby technology is passed from a supplier to a receiver. Taiwan's economy took off in the 1970's. As its economy became increasingly stronger in the past three decades, various home appliances have made their way into Taiwanese homes. They represent modern inventions with commercial potential as they become distributed through populations via commercial market diffusion processes. The innovative effect explains the demand stimulated by external factors such as advertising while the imitative effect explains the demand stimulated mainly by internal factors such as word-of-mouth communication.