Divide and diffuse: Comparing digital divide and diffusion of innovations perspectives on mobile phone adoption

Integrating digital divide and diffusion of innovations approaches, this study analyzes individual-level and market-level influences on the 8-year cumulative adoption of the mobile phone in one developing country. Considering each year separately, as tests of the typical digital divide model, age, education, economic condition, Internet access, and household size were significant divides in all years; employment, marital status, and urbanness were so only in about half the years, and sex in none of the years. However, a diffusion of innovations approach revealed some differences in demographic influences on mobile phone adoption across three adoption categories. Changing mobile phone market conditions were associated with varying adoption levels, and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita correlated with percent adoption except during the global economic crisis.