Towards a Hybrid Model for the Diffusion of Innovation in Energy Communities

Overview & Synopsis

The need for comprehensive models to simulate the diffusion of innovations in communities or social systems has become eminent. Existing models such as the Diffusion of Innovation expound how ideas, products, or innovations gain acceptance and spread over time. Other analogous models, such as the Transtheoretical Model also claim that people do not change behaviours quickly and decisively. Instead, they change in a continuous and cyclical process of internal decision-making. Although these two models are used to address adoption, it may be observed that one addresses it from a behavioural point of view while the other from the characteristics of the innovation perspective. In this study, we propose and develop a hybrid model based on these two. We expect that a composite model with enhanced attributes can be deployed as a decision support tool to enhance the diffusion of innovations particularly within energy communities. The study sought to conduct a structural and contextual analysis of these models hoping to find reasonable grounds for merging them.