Final answer:
Sociologist Everett Rogers described five categories of innovation adopters in 1962: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards, as part of the technology adoption lifecycle, which explains how new technologies or ideas spread through society.
Step-by-step explanation:
The categories of innovation adopters based on their willingness to embrace new practices were famously described by sociologist Everett Rogers in 1962, with his seminal work 'Diffusion of Innovations'. In this theoretical framework, Rogers identified five groups along the technology adoption lifecycle: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards.
The model has found wide application in various fields including business, technology, and cultural innovations. These categories help businesses and policymakers understand how new products or concepts spread through society. Innovators are the first to take up an innovation, followed by the Early Adopters, who are viewed as opinion leaders. The Early and Late Majority represent larger segments of the population who adopt an innovation once its usefulness is more established and finally, Laggards tend to be the most resistant to change.