The role of behavioral factors in the adoption and diffusion of digital innovations among farmers

• Title: "The role of behavioral factors in the adoption and diffusion of digital innovations among farmers"; INRAE.
  • PhD student: Alban Cornier.
  • Affiliated unit: INRAE, UMR 5211 - CEE-M.
  • Co-supervision:
    • Douadia Bougherara (INRAE);
    • Sophie Thoyer (INRAE).
  • Doctoral school: École doctorale Economie Gestion de Montpellier.
  • Project duration: 2023–2026.

Project summary:

The agroecological transition presents significant challenges in encouraging farmers to adopt innovations. The literature reports a variety of factors explaining farmers' adoption of innovations. However, the gap between the availability of an innovation and its widespread diffusion among farmers has received less attention. This issue is even more complex since agroecology, relying on complex ecological processes, involves a set of innovations that are context-dependent, linked to the specificities of the farmer, the farm, and the local environment. We will focus on these specificities, particularly the heterogeneity of behavioral factors such as willingness to innovate, resistance to change, mimicry, and attitudes towards risk and loss. We will identify and model the mechanisms through which innovation spreads within the farmer population by drawing from literature in marketing (rogers' curve), economics (learning models, network theory), and psychology. The goal is to design public policies that target the diffusion mechanisms of innovation within the population to accelerate the spread of innovation. To evaluate these policies, we will use laboratory experiments, large-scale surveys, and a randomized trial with farmers.