The Impact of Socio-economic Factors on the Diffusion of Mobile Technologies in Polish Voivodeships

Objective: The aim of the article is to identify socio-economic factors influencing the diffusion of mobile technologies in Poland. Research Design & Methods: The phenomenon of diffusion of mobile innovations was modelled using Gompertz functions, which were estimated separately for each voivodeship. The impact of socio-economic factors on the rate of innovation diffusion was modelled using multi-equation models. The Gauss-Newton algorithm was used to estimate the Gompertz function, and multi-equation models were estimated using three stage least square (3SLS). Findings: The research results included in this study indicate that the highest levels of market saturation occur in voivodeships with large populations. The phase of increasing innovation diffusion usually lasts longer in more urbanised voivodeships. The level of education of society and its digitalisation are potentially important determinants of the dynamics of diffusion of mobile technology innovations. More educated populations generally had inflection points pushed back in time and therefore the waiting time for the peak of the wave of mobile technology diffusion was generally longer there. Implications / Recommendations: Knowledge of the phase cycle of the innovation diffusion pattern can help in planning the introduction of technologically advanced products to the market in a coordinated way, so that the peak of the market penetration process occurs at the desired moment from the point of view of the company’s strategy. The research approach presented here may be useful for company managers in planning strategies for introducing new products and services. Contribution: The article presents for the first time the diffusion of mobile technologies in Poland from a spatial perspective (by voivodeships). The identification of socio-economic factors of the diffusion of mobile technologies made using multi-equation models should be considered an original approach in research on the spread of innovations.