2024 Volume 38 Issue 4 Pages 476-493
Comparing the diffusion speed of smartphones by age group, the diffusion speed of those in their 60s was about three times slower than that of those in their 20s. To investigate the cause of this difference, this paper reproduced the smartphone diffusion curve using ABM simulation. The reproduced simulation results confirm that the small number of friends is the main factor that slows down the diffusion speed. Previous studies have pointed out various factors that affect diffusion speed, and there have been divergent views. In contrast, this paper visually presents the impact of the number of friends on the diffusion speed by analyzing under a uniform set of conditions. Furthermore, this paper infers from the results that the primary decision-making methods relied upon when deciding on the adoption of innovations may be different between the young and the elderly.