Timing of Smartphone Adoption in German Agriculture – Who are the Early Adopters?

Abstract

Smartphones suit several on-farm operational activities and farmers’ daily working routine very well due to their mobility, high computing power and ability to install (agricultural) apps as needed. However, no study has yet focused on factors affecting the timing of adoption. Understanding the timing of a technology adoption and identifying characteristics of early and late adopters is consequently of great relevance to further anticipate the innovation diffusion process. The aim of this study is therefore to analyze the timing of smartphone adoption by applying a tobit regression model to a data set of 207 German farmers collected in 2019. Regression results show that, among other factors, farmers’ age and risk attitude affect the timing of smartphone adoption.